If you are among the large proportion of the population with a distance between 0 and 8 km from home to work, where commuting by bike is a realistic alternative, it can be a great investment to change from car to bike. Here are the top 5 reasons why your cargo bike is such a sound investment:

Personal finances

200 € can easily be saved every month if you start commuting by bike, and you can even keep your car. No doubt changing from car to bike pays off financially, and it leaves plenty of space in your budget to grab a taxi or renting a car when needed. I put up this small calculation to sum up the huge impact the change can do to your budget and personal finances.

Let me show a couple of examples from my danish context:

Expenses /year Bike Car Depreciation (loss of value) – – € Maintainance 200 800 € Fuel – 400 € Insurance 67 800 € Taxes – 667 € Total 267 2667 € Total deficit /year -2400 € Total deficit /month -200 € Deficit/km (commuting 5km) -1,20 €

Table. Deficit commuting by car instead of bike when you own a car. Figures are from Denmark (sales prices, taxes, insurance and fuel).

Now, let me show another example in the case where you need to buy a bike or a car. In this case the figures are completly different.

Expenses /year Bike Car Depreciation (loss of value) 133 2.667 € Maintainance 200 800 € Fuel – 400 € Insurance 67 800 € Taxes – 667 € Total 400 5.333 € Total deficit /year -4.933 € Total deficit /month -411 € Deficit/km (commuting 5km) -2.47 €

Table. Deficit commuting by car instead of bike in the case where you need to buy a new car. Figures are from Denmark (sales prices, taxes, insurance and fuel).

Yes we do have high car expenses in Denmark, but no matter what, you have a lot of money to save if you can make your day without a car.

Remarkable socio-economic benfits

For every km cycled instead of driven in a car, the state of Denmark saves 0,8 €. With 5.7 million Danes cycling 1.5 km a day, that’s 6.840.000 € per day- and that’s a conservative estimate. In a year that will be almost 2.500.000.000 €, which is significant in government finances in a little country like Denmark.

The deficit of the construction costs for bicycle infrastructure and infrastructure for cars is huge as well. 1 km of Danish highway costs up to 100 times more than 1 km of the Danish bicycle highway.

Resale makes a nice repayment (opposite to cars)

One of the aspects I examined before buying a cargo bike, was the expected repayment price, and I was very surprised when I found out that some cargo bikes after 5-6 years of use are still resold at a price slightly beneath the retailers original selling price.

Example:

2008 (new) 2010 2012 2014 2016 High class cargo bike 2.400 0 2.300 -100 2.200 -200 2.100 -300 2.000 -400 € Normal Family car 40.000 0 34.000 -6000 29.000 -11.000 25.000 -15.000 21.500 -18.500 €

Table. Loss ofVvlue

4. Your health insurance

For every 1,200 km cycled, the average number of sick days is reduced by one.

The Capital Region of Denmark estimates that it has one million fewer sick days due to the fact that the inhabitants of the region are such diligent cyclists.

And 30 minutes of excercise just keep you fit – remember that!

Your best life insurance, afterall!

5. Investing in future generations

As a low-carbon sustainable machine for transportation the bike is a pure investment in future generations.

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Among the 5 reasons I didn’t even mention all the growing business’s moving on the cargo bike like velopak, dhl, CYKELKOKKEN, driving around on bikes from manufacturers like Larry vs harry and Butchers and Bicycles among others. And all the growing retailers like cyclart, fullycharged, peoplesbicycle, wingwheels, Dr.Beyk, cech, velobloom and yes we bike.

Sources:

velocity – urban movement of cargo bikes

Cycling Embassy of Denmark