Bicycle Network: Save money

JUNE 28 2012

Bike riders save UK health system over £442 million per annum

Although the benefits of bike riding are becoming more widely recognised, these benefits are not always visible and can therefore be difficult to quantify in financial terms.

It is possible however and it is being done in the UK. According to a report released last week, more brits are getting on their bikes and saving the British health system and economy millions.

The report Cycling Revolution commissioned by UK Transport charity, Sustrans revealed that 40 million extra journeys were made by bike on the National Cycle Network in 2011, an increase in 18 per cent.

The report calculated that the health benefit of the network was worth a staggering £442 million. In addition, if all journeys made on the network last year had been made by car, an additional 760,363 tonnes of carbon dioxide would have been emitted at a cost of £40 million to the economy.

Those are some serious and persuasive figures with the power to make governments and policy makers notice - and that’s precisely what Sustrans are aiming to do by using its data to campaign for government investment to improve cycle facilities across the UK.

Read the Sustrans report The Real Cycling Revolution

MAY 31 2012

Bike riding saving billions - Forbes
New data from the USA reveals biking can save riders billions of dollars

Yet another report has been published confirming the enormous benefits of bike riding, this time in the highly-regarded American business magazine, Forbes.

The New York-based Forbes – which has the motto “The Capitalist Tool” – isn’t the first place many would normally look for stories about bikes. But in an article published last week the magazine reported that bike riding in the United States was saving the economy at least $US4.6 billion ($AU4.65 billion) each year.

The article says the average operating cost of a bicycle is $US308 ($AU 312) compared to $US8220 ($AU8328) for the average car. If American drivers replaced one four mile (6.44 km) car trip with a bike each week for an entire year it would save more than two billion gallons of petrol for a total saving of $US7.3 billion ($AU7.39 billion) a year, based on $4 a gallon for fuel.

Sound familiar? Last year Bicycle Network’s RideOn magazine reported that bike riding could save you millions, including $10,000 a year if you swapped the car for a bike. RideOn estimated the annual cost of running a car was $11,000 compared to $1,000 for a bike – not dissimilar to the American calculations.

The American data used in the Forbes article was compiled from a large scale source, the National Household Travel Survey (2009). While we don’t have comparable data in Australia, the point is clear: saving money is just one of the many benefits of regular bike riding. It’s good to see our American pedal pals have seen the light and value bike riding as much as we do.

Read full Forbes article “Pedalling to Prosperity: Biking saves U.S Riders Billions A Year”

Read full RideOn article “You’re in the Money”

AUGUST 2011

Want to save a million dollars, or pay off your mortgage 13 years early? Incredibly, those are realistic savings from swapping a car for a bike.

Even if you are running a cheap used-car for getting in to work, it’s going to drain $11,000 of your precious income each year if you are paying for parking.
Riding a bike to work? A lightweight $1,000 a year. And that’s a good bike.

That gives an annual saving of at least $10,000 ($833 a month) for those drivers who switch to the two-wheel option. Bicycle Network Victoria CEO, Mr. Harry Barber doesn’t think people realise just how much money their second car is costing them.

“A lot of people run a second car without a clear idea of what it’s costing them – if you run the numbers you’ll find the bomb is costing you a bomb.
“There is so much more people could be doing with that money than burning it up in a vehicle that spends 94 per cent of its life doing nothing.” said Mr. Barber.

If you are 45, you are going to have to be satisfied with half a million dollars – but a diligent young saver of 25 stands to make a million dollars to spend in their retirement.

Think about it – you can pay yourself to pedal.

A detailed report is included in the latest edition of the Bicycle Network magazine, Ride On, released in August 2011.