2022-04-13
A few years ago I worked at the university at the other side of town. The campus is about 8 km from me.
Two bus routes go that way: line 1 halts at every bus stop from here to campus, and runs along the route that takes it through the town centre. Line 72 is a direct bus that runs a few times to uni in the morning and a few times from uni in the afternoon. It takes all the stops on this side of town, but then takes a route around the town centre and skips all stops after that until it reaches campus.
Line 1 usually takes about 30 to 35 minutes from here to uni. Line 72 typically takes 18 to 22 or something like that.
There's a biking lane that runs from here to the uni, too. Although it runs alongside the bus route for most of the way it's also more direct in some places where the buses take a long way around.
Most of the way from my home to the town centre consists of a 3 km more or less straight road with a bunch of roundabouts every couple of blocks. For most of that road bikers and buses will be side by side until the latter turn left for a little detour. This bit is great fun: if I come onto this stretch at the same time as a bus we'll take turns overtaking each other. There's alternating roundabouts and bus stops all the way, and I'll overtake the bus at each stop while it overtakes me in between.
What about the biking commute time? From my front door to my desk it'd be 25 minutes under good conditions and around 35 to 40 when it's very cold or otherwise bad weather.
I know I have more stamina than most, but I'm little more than an average biker. Yesterday I rode that same path and a few hundred metres farther to a company located a bit beyond uni. It took me 25 minutes, including taking my bike out from storage.
Besides, it's not only the bus trip that takes time. I also have to wait for the bus, unless I wanna miss it half the time. And after stepping off the bus I had another couple of hundred metres to walk before getting to my office. With my bike I have none of the initial wait and I could park it right outside my work place.
And I don't even have electric pedal assist.
-- CC0 Björn Wärmedal