The true cost of cycling to work

Find out how much it costs to cycle to work based on my 6 year experience

I’ve been cycling to work in London since 2010 and since I signed up to the Cycle To Work scheme in 2011 I’ve been keeping a diary to help me keep motivated, and track my progress overtime.

At the time of writing, I have cycled over 8,000 miles mostly between East Dulwich and Shoreditch. Currently, this means I could have cycled from East Dulwich to Singapore something I wouldn’t mind trying.

If I had my way, I would have cycled to Singapore instead.

My commute

I commute about 6.5 miles (10.4km) each way from East Dulwich to Hoxton.

The bike

Whilst I was working at Detica Creative, I signed up to the cycle-to-work scheme and went all in, choosing the £999 Boardman Hybrid Pro.

I wasn’t entirely sure how much I ended up saving but think it was around £300 in tax-savings.

My Boardman Hybrid Pro 2011 (it does have pedals in real life)

Yearly maintenance

On average I spend around £125 on maintenance each year. This is a combination of essentials as well as other bits of equipment.

My maintenance costs increased in 2017 as a result of buying anti-pollution masks given the current pollution situation in London.

Maintenance costs per year

The following chart shows the overall maintenance breakdown by category.

Transport savings

My transport savings have been calculated taking into account the yearly pricing changes from Transport for London. My journey to work from East Dulwich (Zone 2) to Hoxton (Zone 1) involves a bus ride and Overground ride each way.

Since 2011 I have saved £3,223.85 in transport costs.

Taking everything into consideration…

Based on the following costs:

• Bike £700
• Transport savings £3,223.85
• Maintenance costs £896.87
• Days cycled 687

My cost per day can be calculated as [travel savings] — [cost of bike] — [maintenance] / [total days cycled]

(£3,223.85–£896.87-£700)/687 = £2.22.

And so it transpires that my journey to work by bike has averaged out to be about £2.22 per day which is about 33% of the cost on public transport (£6.50 Zone 1–2 TfL fare, 2017).

Caveats

• I use the same bike for other stuff such as taking my daughter to nursery and leisure rides.
• This does not take into account the cost of the extra food I need to eat or the wear and tear to my ageing body.
• Between 2011 and July 2013 I commuted to Southwark Street and the travel costs were based on taking the bus each way.