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Latest fares increase makes London bike commuting even better valueWoman on bike in London (CC licensed image by kenjonbro:Flickr)

Latest fares increase makes London bike commuting even better value

£1,250 for a travelcard? You could get a bike for that!
by John Stevenson
Mon, Jan 20, 2014 11:24
13

Cutting through the congestion and having a more enjoyable journey to work are the most common reasons people commute by bike in London, but with today’s fare increases riding a bike in the capital makes even more financial sense than ever.

Transport for London claims that travelcard prices have risen by an average of 3.1 percent, but that masks some far steeper increases. A zone 1-4 travelcard is now £1,800, up from £1,688, an increase of 7.3 percent.

But even a travelcard for central London’s Zone 1 and 2, which takes about 40 minutes to cross by bike or Tube according to the TfL website, now costs £1,250 per year.

As the CTC’s Chris Peck points out, that’s enough for a decent bike and all the trimmings.

“With prices on public transport again rising, the benefits of cycling to the pocket are becoming even greater,” said Chris.

“For those on a tight budget, cycling is not only be the cheapest way to get around London, it’s also the fastest way. For those who are sick of tube delays, strikes and strap-hanging, giving up a Zone 1-2 season ticket and taking up cycling could reward you with a budget of over £1,250 for equipment, which will buy you a very decent and reliable bike plus accessories.”

It’s good for you too. An oft-cited statistic is that new cycle commuters on average lose a stone in weight in their first year of riding. There are far more extreme examples of the benefits of cycling, though, such as the incredible shrinking cyclist Gary Brennan,who lost 26 stone. 

Transport for London says the price increases are justified by the need to invest in the network, but Labour has described the rises as “inflation-busting”, especially the increase in zone 1-4 fares.

The party’s transport spokeswoman on the London Assembly, Val Shawcross, said Boris Johnson was “saving people £4 a year on their council tax but is taking vastly more from them in higher transport fares”.

Janet Cook, from passenger watchdog London TravelWatch, said people were having to pay “an increasingly large share of their regular income on commuting”.

Or they could get a bike.

transport for london
TFL
London
fares
John Stevenson

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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13 comments

Avatar
notfastenough | 10 years ago
0 likes

Well it is for me, but in all fairness it need not be as expensive as that (just don't tell my mrs!).

Avatar
700c | 10 years ago
0 likes

That's all very well but not everyone can turn up at meetings all sweaty and/ or covered in crap from the road, carrying stuff. A comparison to a travelcard assumes you need to travel around zone 1 and 2 in the day as well..

If it's just the commute, then you'd use an oyster card, which is cheaper.

And anyway, I wouldn't blame anyone for choosing not to cycle in rush hour London -there are far nicer ways to enjoy our hobby!

Avatar
ragtag replied to 700c | 10 years ago
0 likes

Not everyone, but a lot more people could cycle.

I'm riding from zone 5 (with no underground station) and a season ticket to a London terminal station costs £1,620.00. That is a substantial saving, even when you take into consideration servicing. Goes up to £2,136 with travel to any zone.

Oyster Card at peak time is £4.60 (Z1-5) so it works out more expensive than a season ticket which is between £3.37 - £4.45 on average.

Avatar
Leviathan | 10 years ago
0 likes

You are taking the Ppe...
I was wearing a yellow jacket and helmet today. I think some people might have confused my yellow jacket for a Hi-viz one. They don't know it is ONCE Monday.

Just ride your bike.

Avatar
congokid | 10 years ago
0 likes

Back in July 2011 the Guardian did an article about the financial savings that were possible through cycle commuting.

This of course took into account only the savings from travelling to work by bike, not all the other benefits that regular cycling brings such as other journeys, peace of mind, general fitness, etc.

In the comment thread someone called Steve posted a link to his cycle to work calculator, with which I was able to calculate I'd saved £28,440 by cycling to work over the years.

Just recalculated - £30,413 saved now.

[[broken link fixed - sorry!]]

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pants replied to congokid | 10 years ago
0 likes

You only save by cycling if you cycle purely to commute, once you get into it cycling is a very expensive hobby.

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Tripod16 | 10 years ago
0 likes

Before someone else sneaks it in: being ginger doesn't count toward your hi-viz quotient... 4

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Tripod16 | 10 years ago
0 likes

I didn't even notice a cyclist in the pic, she must get some hi-viz too then! 19

Avatar
giff77 | 10 years ago
0 likes

Seriously. What is it with people and their insistence in highlighting failure to wear a helmet in an article that has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH HELMETS 14 14 14

Here's an opportunity to get more people on bikes without all the perceived safety accoutrements. Show them how much money they can save and improve their health by just pushing some pedals. I've had enough. I'm requesting a transfer to Copenhagen or Amsterdam. Doesn't matter which city.

And breathe.......

Avatar
ficklewhippet replied to giff77 | 10 years ago
0 likes
giff77 wrote:

Seriously. What is it with people and their insistence in highlighting failure to wear a helmet in an article that has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH HELMETS 14 14 14

Here's an opportunity to get more people on bikes without all the perceived safety accoutrements. Show them how much money they can save and improve their health by just pushing some pedals. I've had enough. I'm requesting a transfer to Copenhagen or Amsterdam. Doesn't matter which city.

And breathe.......

Cos people like that sleep, breathe and make the porridge while wearing their helmets, just in case, you know .. 3

Avatar
Airzound | 10 years ago
0 likes

You could also get a bike and a nice helmet for that which is an item of PPE the cyclist in the pic isn't wearing.

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jacknorell | 10 years ago
0 likes

You could get a bike and a nice budget trip to to the Med for that!

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MrGear replied to jacknorell | 10 years ago
0 likes
jacknorell wrote:

You could get a bike and a nice budget trip to to the Med for that!

If you also cancel your £30 a month gym membership, that gives you £360 to spend on crack too!

It's ever so moorish.

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