Yeah, the mode matters, but really 30 minutes is an easy commute regardless of the mode. If you were to spend, say, 90 minutes going each way, that would take its toll too. (Though there would also be benefits to getting that much exercise.)
I don’t know about that. I think the motivations you have for starting to commute by bike in the first place make a big difference.
In my case, I had been using public transit (buses) as transportation for more than ten years, and frankly, I was completely fed up with it. For my current commute, the buses would never come on time (either 10+ minutes late, or just a bit too early). Then, when I’d finally catch my first bus, it would always reach the last stop just late enough for me to see the second bus (that I’d have to transfer on to) reach the stop I’d have to get to and leave.
That’s not even mentioning all the other annoyances, like:
• (sometimes) waiting more than an hour for a bus to arrive
• the commute regularly taking 1.5 hours each way because the buses would regularly come too late or too early (on the very rare occasions when I’d catch both buses instantly, the commute would become a blissful 45 minutes; I truly treasured those days…)
• etc.
Finally, I got completely fed up of it and was desperately searching for some other way to get to my destination. After doing some research, I realized that I lived right next to a huge bike trail that could take me almost half the way, so I ended up getting a bike. Frankly, it was the best decision I’ve made in a long time. My commute is now 2 hours each way, but unlike the situation with the buses (where I was just waiting half the time), with the bike, I’m actually doing something (riding it), so the time passes by so fast, I always find it unbelievable when I realize that, somehow, two hours have just elapsed without me even noticing it.
Can I just vent for a second about how an early bus is so much worse than a late bus… and they have complete control over it too. A late bus will eventually show up. An early bus, well, you have no idea it was even early.
I actually know that bus stop! I studied for a time in Kiel, and the buses were very reliable.
I'm now in the DC suburbs. There are several different transit agencies that operate here, and some are better than others. Some do have signs like the ones in Kiel, but for the buses I take, this is what I get to deal with for signs: http://i.imgur.com/Zd2TNVG.jpg
I have enter the stop number on rideonrealtime.com, and then search. If I try searching for it today, I get an error, because the 14 bus doesn't run on Sunday (but they don't say that). Believe it or not, their desktop website is actually a little better than the mobile version.
Even in the fancy new transit hub that recently opened, the electronic signs only show the published departure times. At off hours, this is fine because they are generally accurate. During peak traffic times, however, they're completely inaccurate and you need to go to their terrible website to look up the actual time the next bus will arrive.
My personal experience is that mode definitely counts even if time extremes might override it. My bike commute is the same time as my car commute (Los Angeles). I for one vastly prefer the reliably 20 min biking to the 15-25 minutes of driving and dealing with traffic.
Similarly I used to opt for a longer public transit commute than a car because of the active engagement that I needed with traffic in the car.
