I bought my first Bianchi bicycle back in 2009 or so. It was stolen in 2011 (thanks for nothing 114th Precinct – even with video footage they didn’t have the “technical know-how” to gather evidence, whatevs) and I started hemorrhaging money on travel fare. I did some quick math and in April or May of 2012 I bought a new Bianchi. I always said it’d be interesting to analyze my travel costs, but one month or even two don’t really provide any considerable data. I needed a year’s worth of receipts. That is, I still take the subway, but I’m increasingly migrating to my bike for more occasions, even moving equipment.

So this time last year, I committed to always asking for a receipt, even if it meant missing the train.

Now I’ve collected it, and here are the numbers:

From 2013/09/03 to 2014/09/14 I put $249 on my MetroCard. I still have ~$15 on it now.
I biked ~1100 miles in the boroughs in that time. At an average guess of 5 miles/trip, that’s 220 trips, or 110 days with two-way trips.
By not purchasing monthly MetroCards for a year, I saved $1095, just under the value of my 2012-upgraded bicycle with accessories (helmet, bike rack, lights, etc.).

And that bike purchase was now 2+ years ago, so the investment has paid for itself two times over and counting. Also I own it.

BAM!