BIKE TO WORK BOOK
Chapter 2 MYTHS EXPLODED
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BICYCLES v AIRLINER
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uring a major highway closure in Los Angeles in July 2011, cyclists raced an airline’s ‘Carmageddon’ PR special. And won. JetBlue’s flight 405 was still on the runway when riders from the Wolfpack Hustle of Los Angeles neared the end-point to win the bike versus jet race. The riders had covered 35+ miles before the aircraft had even left the ground. The A320 took just 12 minutes to complete the flight. The cyclists had a one hour headstart over the aircraft (a reflection of how long it takes to transit through a non-international airport) but would have still won the race without this cushion. The flight distance was 29 miles. The driving distance - on freeways - was about 40 miles, and the cycling distance was about the same. Part of the reason for the win was the route chosen: much of it was on a riverside bike path, with no stop-lights. The cyclists raced within the law: there was no riding on sidewalks and no blowing through reds. The cyclists took 1 hour 34 minutes, and also beat a rider on the Los Angeles Metro, who took just under two hours. It had all started on Twitter, naturally. Responding to JetBlue’s $4 ‘carmageddon special’ flights from one side of Los Angeles to the other, Tom Vanderbilt - author of Traffic wrote: “Given airport travel time, security, runway delay, etc., I’d bet a good cyclist could travel BUR to LGB faster than Jet Blue.” The challenge was taken up by the Wolfpack Hustle, a group of LA cyclists. And, via Twitter, JetBlue offered a couple of seats on the flight for cyclists to document the race. Joe Anthony of BikeCommuteNews and Ezra Horne were on the flight and Twittered their fake frustration that a bunch of cyclists had beaten a commercial airliner.
the Cross-Bronx Expressway in New York, cars average 9 mph. Satnav maker TomTom has a system called IQ Routes which “puts the driving experience of millions of TomTom users into your maps, calculating your route based on actual speeds driven on roads compared to speed limits…As a result, TomTom now has a huge database, containing billions of miles of real customer driving experience, collected over the years from more than 7 million TomTom users.” The TomTom website says: “We all know traffic is different during a Monday morning rush hour from a lazy Sunday afternoon. We all want the best shortcuts to bring us to our destination in the fastest way possible. But heavy traffic, speed bumps, traffic lights, roundabouts and even schoolchildren [our emphasis] or shopping crowds can slow you down.” The TomTom website uses an example of a London route, 9.2kms, from Commercial Road to Gloucester Terrace. Even at “a relatively quiet time, and without any hold-ups” this short trip will take a motorist 20 minutes. That’s an average speed of just 17mph.Remember, that’s without hold-ups and outside of rush hours. Using actual data from thousands of TomTom users in London, the IQ Routes database ignores the shortest route and takes motorists on a longer but quicker route. The 10.2km journey is estimated to take 26 minutes. Add in a couple of minutes to account for less than optimum traffic light changes and that’s an average speed of 13mph. And a motorist travelling the TomTom route would also be paying the £8 London congestion charge. Not factored into the TomTom equation is the time taken to find a parking space at the end of the journey. However, TomTom is pleased that it can save you three minutes over other satnav routers: “3 minutes may not sound much, but it’s over 10% off your journey time. Just consider for a moment how much time that will save you over a whole year… Exactly!” An average cyclist on a standard bike, wearing a suit, can travel in London at 15mph easily, with no congestion charge fee, no downtime to find a parking space. So, go by bike. Just consider for a moment: how much time that will save you over a whole year? Exactly!