The wheel deal
ON YOUR BIKE: Dr Mike McKillen of the Dublin Cycling Campaign advocates that we save money and help the environment by cycling.
Tuesday August 07 2007
WITH the bulk of journeys in Ireland carried out by car, commuters are feeling the pinch in their pockets from the various hikes in the price of petrol over the past number of years.
A survey by the RAC last year of cars entering Dublin during peak times found that 75pc had only one occupant.
Car pooling might become the solution to their problems.
Car pooling is the shared use of a car, in particular for commuting to work, often by people who each have a car but travel together to save costs. Although it is not a new concept, organised car pooling has yet to catch on in Ireland in a meaningful way.
Sharing a car saves money by splitting the costs as well as cutting down on stress and being environmentally friendly, explains Craig Walker, a consultant with Vipre, a travel management and consultancy company which operates a variety of car-pool services for businesses in Ireland, including one in Dublin's Eastpoint Business Park in conjunction with British company Liftshare.
"If everybody brought just one person with them, the costs of commuting could be cut by as much as 50pc," he says.
International experience provides evidence of the savings, says Mr Walker, who hails from Canada. "An average Canadian spends 30 hours a month in their car, about an hour a day, and an extra 30 hours a month working to pay for it.
"If they brought a fellow colleague to work or a husband or wife and dropped them off en route, that would significantly save them costs, everything from vehicle purchase to fuel to parking fees," he says.
Around 70 people are using the car-pooling service at Eastpoint, according to Martin Kacperski, commuter centre manager who estimates that each car involved in the pool is saving around €7,000 a year and 20 tonnes of CO2 being pumped into the environment.
"We always advise people to share the costs instead of paying one another," says Mr Kacperski. "Based on tax office rules, when car sharing is involved the maximum a person can pay the driver is 15 cents a mile but we would always advise people just to share the costs.,There are also insurance reasons for this, according to Mr Walker.
"As long as there are no profits to be made from the car-sharing scheme, there are no insurance implications for the commuters nor the employers.,But using the car pools is not the only way to cut the costs of commuting.
Switching to public transport can also save money, particularly if travellers use the TaxSaver commuter tickets from Dublin Bus, Luas and Iarnród Éireann.
This scheme allows for significant tax savings to be made by employees purchasing their commuter tickets in co-operation with employers.
This particular scheme has been in operation since 1999, when monthly and annual commuter tickets were exempted from benefit-in-kind tax.
"Today, there are about 1,500 companies purchasing tickets through Dublin Bus and Irish Rail under the tax saver heading," says Dublin Bus sales executive John Phelan.
With quite significant tax savings, especially for employees on the 41 pc tax rate, who can nearly cut their travel costs in half, it is worth employees' time to ask their companies to participate in the scheme.
"It can be given from a company to an employee as a straightforward bonus," says Mr Phelan.
"But the most popular way is a salary sacrifice, where somebody foregoes salary in place of the ticket. If somebody is on €30,000 a year and they opt to salary sacrifice €980 for an annual ticket, they are then only taxed on the €29,020 remaining in their salary.,However, David Maher from the Dublin Cycling Campaign reckons that using a bicycle is the most cost-effective means of transport from a number of standpoints. "Economically, you have a huge time saving because you are sure of your commute times, they're always consistent," he says.
To buy and kit out a bike would cost less than the annual insurance bill for a car.
"For a good quality bike that won't give you any problems, I'd say you would be looking at around €300," says Mr Maher.
"The very first thing to the bike is change the tyres to Kevlar which are puncture proof and cost around €40 for a set. The second thing I would buy is a very good quality lock and people should be willing to pay up to €100 for a very good lock.,Lights cost up to €25, with a battery charger setting you back the same amount, while helmets start at €35 and can cost up to €100. Good rain gear would cost around €100.
And there are the obvious health benefits of cycling, says Mr Maher.
"The benefits in terms of increased life expectancy far outweigh any risks," he says. "You can expect a year-and-a half to two years extra in your life if you cycle rather than drive the whole time because you're fitter.
Cycling to work is fast, healthier and cheaper
Dr Mike McKillen of the biochemistry department at Trinity College has been cycling to and from work since 1972, and says he cannot understand why people who live within cycling distance of their work still drive.
"Cycling is a no-brainer," says the chairman of the Dublin Cycling Campaign.
"I don't know why people bother driving if they live within six kilometres of their place of work or study.,Dr McKillen says that cycling is the cheapest and most efficient means of travel for city commuters.
"Your journey time is precisely predictable. Congestion doesn't matter to me, I can bypass it. I can get off the bike, take it up on the pavement, and move on.,He also says that statistics from a study he did for Roads Ireland back up his claim that it is a very cheap form of transport.
"On the basis of a typical urban bus fare of €1.40 each way, and that would take you up to seven stages which is approximately six kilometres, you should cover the outlay for a €400 bike in seven months and a €400 bike is a pretty good bike," he says.
An outdoors enthusiast, he says that cycling provides him with plenty of physical exercise.
"I treat it as my training run so I go as fast as I possibly can to get aerobic fitness because I am also a mountaineer and when I go to the Alps I need to have a base level of fitness," he says.
For the less active, there are also benefits, he says.
"You get to lie longer in bed in the mornings because journey time is predictable.,n For more information on the Dublin Cycling Campaign see http://home.connect.ie/dcc.
