The housing-transportation budget paradox

We’re in the midst of a housing-cost crisis that is dominating headlines. But one element of modern city life that rarely enters these conversations is the cost of transportation. But that’s strange to me because transportation costs can greatly impact our lives.

Shifter Big Stories, presented by Riese & Müller. This is the third video in a series exploring the most important stories in urban cycling and transportation. A big thanks to Riese & Müller for their sponsorship that enabled the creation of these videos.

Thanks to these bike shops that lent me bikes to ride:

0:00 Introduction
1:50 The impact of transportation costs
3:40 Home 1: The Suburban Special
4:28 Why don't we talk about transportation costs?
9:12 Home 2: The Magnificent Middle
10:12 How a bicycle can impact your budget
11:43 Home 3: The Downtown Delight
12:35 The costs of your transportation mode on cities and society
14:58 Assessing the true costs of our three homes

SOURCES
Cycling for Sustainable Cities edited by Ralph Buehler and John Pucher

#cycling #bikecommuting #urbanplanning

I don’t really do proper product reviews, but here are some products that I’ve tried on this channel that I like. (Of course, you don’t need anything fancy to ride a bike, other than a bike, but these are Amazon affiliate links, and I get paid a small commission if you buy them 😉)

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[nicthedoor]

Fantastic video. Sent to my wife. She keeps telling me we should move out of the city to save money. I have to remind her that we would likely need to get another car to make it work.

[sangokudbz]

0:34 Stop right there. We know people on theses shows are like :

men : works 1 hour a week at home sharpening colored pencil
women : resells egg online

Budget : 1.7 million dollars

[TheUglyFrogKing]

Thank you for focusing on urban transport and not sport. A few years ago I listened to you and got a commuter bike e-bike and sold a car. I have not looked back.

[JohnPowell]

I live in Seattle and I constantly point out to people that parking alone can cost more than an "expensive" bike. $10/day for parking works out to $2500/ year for 250 working days.

[grandadslifehacks]

I hate car maintenance so much that I try to ride my bike whenever possible. I installed some baskets on my bike and that has helped. Thank you for the encouragement to try to make more trips by bicycle.

[Zoyx]

One of the reasons for homelessness. People have to choose between their house or their car. They choose to live in their car because they need transportation to get to their job.

[bikebikenudgenudge]

As an transportation geographer, it's great to see you cover this. Academic circles have been criticizing this "drive 'til you qualify" suburban sprawl and super-commuting for some time since few people consider the cost of driving. Massive spikes in fuel costs, like after Hurricane Katrina, had a huge impact on those super-commuters. Value of Time could also be included in your calculation and would help biking look better because, as you said, commuting by bike doubles as your exercise. Another knock against the suburban house is that it locks you in to doing nearly everything by car. Add 50%-100% to your driving costs.

[alldoitthesame]

Started riding my bike so much that my car battery was dead every time I went to use it. Sold my car and it’s so nice not thinking about the maintenance, emissions tests, parking stickers etc. if I need to rent a car there’s an app for that

[ericdruid]

It might also be worth including the cost in time for the different commute options. Driving 20 km in rush hour traffic is bound to take way longer than a 1.5 km bike ride, even in traffic.

[freshfreshfreshfresh]

This video inspired me to look up the numbers. In 2023, my Presto spending in Toronto was $561. Not one month. The entire calendar year. S94+tax on Bikeshare. $0 on Uber. $0 on Taxi. No car.

[Victor-khrh]

I have a 2018 golf, I calculated the 6 year total cost of ownership at right around $55, 0000 over the last 6 years since I got it. The sticker price of the car was “only” $25k, but when you factor in insurance, gas, tolls, parking, taxes, and the opportunity cost of having that money tied up the total cost balloon quickly. We went from a 2 car family to a 1 car family thanks to an ebike and public transit, and while we could afford a second car I’d rather put that nearly $10k a year to savings and vacation.

[Krueger]

One of the most frustrating arguments against bike infrastructure: Who's going to pay for it?

Cause roads for cars are free,

[jimmyryan]

Because cashflow is a thing. In college my richer friend couldn't understand why I paid 20 for cheap shoes that will fall apart rather than a 75 for ones that will last. Because I have 50 for the week and I need shoes now, and I need to eat.

[TMLFAN]

I moved to Montreal and was able to afford a home thanks in large part to not owning a car. With the good public transit and bike infrastructure, I can get by without a car which opens up $800-1200/month for a mortgage

[drewsmith]

Thanks for the video! I live in Washington DC and recently ran in to a real estate agent at a coffee shop that specializes in "bike real estate" She said they focus on finding housing for people that want to prioritize biking for their transportation. I thought that was so cool! Next time I look for a place to live, I'm going to try and find a real estate agent like that! (They do all their house showings via bike too!)

[keeblebrox]

This kind of holistic approach to cost of living is really illuminating, I'm glad you're shining a light on it. There will always be people willing to pay a premium for car ownership and a secluded home far from urban life, but it's important that people have complete information to make informed choices. The cost of selling your home early is substantial, so you don't want to find out after taking out a mortgage that your transportation costs are much higher than expected.

[miniveloman]

I made these calculations in the early 1990s. It enabled me to retire before my 50th birthday.

[zinaramirez]

I have organized my entire life over not owning a vehicle. I have many reasons for this, mostly out of fear of injuring someone or becoming a statistic myself, but I have to constantly point out to people that I can live my life so much better as a result of not owning a vehicle. The only caveat to this is rural living, which generally requires a vehicle but also allows for many different types of lifestyles that an urban centre simply can't accommodate.

Thanks for continuing to post great content to encourage more commuter bike use!

[marcdefaoite]

I have always tried to live within walking or cycling distance to my workplace even if it meant slightly higher rent. One of the biggest benefits of that is time. An hour I could have given to traffic and searching for a parking place is mine to do with as I please, twice a day.

[Chriswales]

I did this same math 15 years ago deciding where to live. City centre was a third more expensive in rent than the suburbs. But including travel cost they were the same. Went for the city centre apartment and saved two hours of commuting each day.