I’ve biked to school. I’ve driven to school. Six miles one-way, no big deal. But there are differences between the two.

Biking

• Cheap
• Exercise
• More time-consuming
• “Better safe than sorry”
  • Helmet
  • Gloves
• Locks
  • Lights
• Breathable/comfortable clothes
• Inhale the car emissions around me
  • Ew
• Maintenance costs:
  • Fuel: My own energy. Essentially “free,” disregarding food costs.
  • Tubes, lube, tires, etc.
• Parking: Always free
• Number of passengers: One

Driving

• Not-as cheap
• Less exercise
• Less time-consuming
• Using a death machine.
  • I can easily kill someone. (For the record, I don’t want to.)
• Travel more distance easily.
• “Safe” from outside car emissions.
• But contributing to the car emissions myself.
• Maintenance costs:
  • Fuel: Gasoline. $3-$4 per gallon.
  • Insurance
  • Oil, brakes, lights, etc.
• Parking: Monies.
• Number of passengers: Several

Biking and driving both have their advantages and disadvantages. From a financial standpoint, biking is less of a burden. I’ve spent less money on my bicycle compared to the money spent on gas alone. (Which means paying any more for gas is pretty much overkill.)

By no means is one a replacement for the other. A bicycle gives me a cheap way to travel places. It’s faster than walking, but not as fast as driving. A car provides me the ability to give rides to people, a trunk, a stereo (biking with earphones next to trucks and other loud machinery equates to not hearing anything), and a lot of other niceties.

If only maintaining a car wasn’t so expensive.