Aussies Living Simply Challenge - Part Two - Transport.

The topic of this challenge is your transport.

 There is no public transport system where I live except the school bus, which doesn't suit my hours. Other ideas to reduce transport include reducing trips to town or grouping trips.

 Once again it is all about planning. If I am not thinking and planning, I could easily run to town 2 or 3 times a day because it is so close. BUT the kilometres add up. It is a 15km round trip and with my car and our current fuel price I have calculated that it costs about $2 to go to town and back.

 I budget $30 per week for fuel. Since starting our eco challenge I group my trips and drive economically. I keep putting $30 per week into the car even though I don't need to. By next week the car should be completely full and the change will go in my fuel money jar. The week after that I will put as much in as I can fit and then put the change in the jar.

The leftover fuel money will pay for our trips away. Some of you may argue that the car may be heavier and use more fuel if it is full, but I like the idea of it being full. If there is an emergency or blackout that cuts the fuel bowsers out of action I will always be ok.

In our house DH is riding the children to school. I would really LOVE to ride to work. I have a great bike. Work is 7.5 km each way. Getting there is not too bad, although there are parts of a busy road where there is nowhere to move off the road. Coming home is the biggest problem. It is dark when I am leaving work to come home and it's cold. I guess I will have no excuse when daylight savings starts. I am excited about the health benefits but am just not quite ready to get started !

Does anyone else commute by bicycle ? If so how far and how long does it take.