The cash converter
Darren Snooks, 36, from Harrow switched from driving to work in Hayes, Middlesex, and back – an 11-mile round trip – to riding his daily commute.
“I drove every day for years, then switched to riding a moped on and off, but finally I swapped completely to cycling on a cyclocross bike,” says Darren. With reports suggesting that fuel prices could reach £2 per litre – putting the average cost of filling a medium tank at a staggering
£100 – Darren couldn’t have timed his transition better.
By switching to a bike for all his local errands and journeys, as well as the commute, Darren estimates he’s saving around £150 a month on fuel and running costs. “I’m also cycling with my kids at weekends to their football matches – encouraging them to ride and getting some miles under the belt myself.”
Of course, it’s not without its challenges and Darren is keen to point out that potential car-to-bike swappers should do their homework and make sure they’re kitted out for the conditions.
“I rode into work all through winter too. My workmates thought I was crackers, but if you buy the right wet-weather clothing, get decent lights and plan your route properly it’s really no great hardship.”
Along with his fuel-cost savings of around £1,800 per year, Darren is keen to flag up the fitness benefits that come with replacing the car with a bike for commuting. “I’ll go to the gym every morning then ride into work and I feel great. I love whizzing through the school-run traffic jams and getting to work in a good frame of mind.”
Darren’s 11-mile round trip each day is only half the average commuting distance in the UK (23 miles is the average round trip, while 14% of commuters travel over 42 miles a day). But as the cycle-to-commute movement gains momentum, cycling promotors are offering drivers a means of ditching the car for longer journeys too.
In Coventry, for example, drivers of older cars are being urged to consider swapping them for a brand new bicycle or ebike under a pioneering new scheme. Commuters with high-polluting petrol or diesel cars can get £3,000 worth of ‘mobility credits’ that could be spent on more environmentally friendly travel including public transport, taxis, car hire or bike hire.
“We’ll scrap your old polluting car, you can get a quality bike you can keep, and still have some credits left over for other journeys by public transport or car club when you need to,” explains Adam Tranter, the former Coventry Bicycle Mayor and now cycling and walking commissioner for the West Midlands Combined Authority. “This scheme has helped us to better understand what works well and what maybe does not when it comes to encouraging people to use more sustainable transport.”