https://maxmautner.com/2026/10/11/how-fast-is-a-car.html
The median American worker earns $23.80/hour, or ~$19 after taxes. A used car driven the US average of ~10,900 miles a year costs ~$8,200, counting $1,700 a year for a parking space at home. That is ~430 hours of work before the car moves. A new car takes ~700 hours. A $999 e-bike ridden 3,000 miles a year takes ~25 hours.
i have a cheap ebike with about half a commute’s range on the area’s very hilly terrain
i have my feet
i have buses, light rail, and shuttles for everything else.
That time saved is so substantial. The best non-walk commute i can hope for is within the range of my ebike without bus assistance, and those commutes are comparable to a car
otherwise I sacrifice hours of my life travelling that car havers get to dedicate to other tasks. Most bus rides around here can get you [somewhere] within about an hour. Crossing the coverage map can take 3+ hours each way though.
the best job i ever had up here? There was a mandatory two hour commute by bus going in and going home.
I had time to work, eat, and sleep except on my days off, where I might be able to out and have some fun on my weekend, but not too late or else i can’t get home.
The way bus commuters have their time stolen is insane and i often think about the hours i lose in travel and what i could be doing with them.
There are productive tasks you can do on a bus, but fuck me, there isn’t THAT much to do.
I remember looking up the bus route for what is 45 minutes by car for one of my last jobs and it was 3 hours both ways, but I also worked weird hours and the bus was only available one way.