There's a lot of people who are physically incapable of biking to work -- not because of distance, but because of some combination of {age, injuries, lack of fitness, difficult terrain, luggage}.
It's easy for a fit 20 year old who lives on a flood plain to say that more people should cycle to work. It's not so easy for an overweight 40 year old who needs to drop her kids off at daycare, works at the top of a steep hill, and needs to buy groceries on the way home.
If she bikes to work she might not be overweight for much longer.
I agree though , probably the biggest factor here is managing kids and working everything around their timetable.
I know plenty of people who could bike or use public transport to get to work but like the piece of mind of knowing that if they need to go anywhere they can just jump in the car and go without the planning headaches.
The fact is most people work within biking distance of work, yes there are SOME that can't, but most just plain don't want to. In NYC is is faster to bike then any other mode of transport.
An electric bike for hills, add on a kids seat on the handle bars and on the rear wheel and then put your groceries in the front basket. Solution. Physically incapable?
This bike is on the expensive side at $9.50/day, but compare that to car, gym membership and public transportation cost and you might be breaking even.
Of course this might not work in all locations, but it is a solution for many.
That may work fine for one person who lives alone, but the average front basket will barely fit the toilet paper and milk to last a four-person household a week, never mind the two dozen other things they'll need. And someone with two kids doesn't have time to go shopping every single day just because her transport will only hold a fraction of the groceries they need.
A bike can't offer anything more than a cardio workout for your legs. That's not a substitute for a gym with benches and weights and suspension. And showers, because if you don't break a sweat the ride is even less of a substitute.
My grandmother lived at the top of a steep hill, and biked to buy groceries until she was 75 or so. There are not many people who are physically incapable of biking, especially if you have a bike with gears then almost all hills shouldn't be a problem; just go slow.
Laziness. I'm able to commute by bike, on a well-maintained bike path, no less. However, more often than not, I don't do it. Why? Because since I also have a car, I'm more likely to drive when running late (which is basically ALL the time).
I felt enormously liberated after giving up my car.
Two caveats: I live in a city with fantastic public transport. I would not be any faster at work by car, probably slower on most days.
I'm a member of a car sharing cooperative (something like ZipCar, but on a non-profit basis). If I do need a car I have a dozen (literally) at my disposal within 5 minute walking distance.
The range is from a Smart to a Mercedes transporter. And I use this option about 3-4 times a year.
Not owning a car saves me 5-6k (USD) a year. And this includes my yearly public transport pass, car hires and even longer term rental and leaves a few hundred $ for cab rides.
If you can do it it's extremely liberating and leaves a lot of cash on the table for more useful things. Like nice vacations.
On the other hand, owning car enables me to live in a lower cost of living area. Based on some online cost of living calculators, it would cost $15-20,000 more per year to live in a city that provides the amenities that you utilize, which, even with the $5-6,000 you quoted to own a car, is still a net win for me.
Though I definitely see the appeal of not owning a car at all.
Basically, the idea is that for every mile you live closer to work, you can afford another $15,900 worth of house.
It's also interesting when you throw in cycling to work; I used to argue with a friend about going to the gym (which I'm not fond of). I told him I could bike to work (20 minutes) and bike home (20 minutes) for a total of a 40 minute workout during my commute and save myself the extra hour (maybe more) it would cost going to the gym everyday.
It's crazy inconvenient, not particularly pleasant and offers weak health benefits[1]. If someone likes it, great but for most of us getting sweaty right before classes/work (and likely keep sweating while there), not being able to dress properly and not being able to go out afterwards is a deal breaker.
And you can't even ditch the car and all the maintenance costs and efforts that go with it because you will still need it occasionally.
There's no reason you can't get short , intense bursts of exercise on your commute especially if there are hills in the way or you time yourself and try to get it down.
Years ago I used to do a 40 mile round trip to work by bike with a few good hills on route , so there was a mixture of hard anaerobic effort and lower intensity pedalling. After about 3 months of that I was probably never thinner and fitter.
Regards sweat, this depends on if you can shower at work I guess and also how sweaty you get.
If you wear cycling clothing that can absorb a lot of the sweat and then change and spray some deodorant when you get to work you really don't smell all that bad.
I'm not sure it's fair to say it offers weak health benefits. The linked article shows how something else (short bursts) offers in some respects substantially more health benefits but nothing to suggest that long bursts (e.g. cycling) aren't still dramatically better than sitting in a car/ on a train.
I am guessing that most people aren't able to work. Just taking a survey from the people around me, no one lives close enough to work to bike. I also live in Orange County and the Los Angeles area so everything is very spread out.
in many american cities, if you want to have enough living space to raise 2 or more children, your options are to spend several million dollars on housing that is close enough to your downtown office that you can bike to work, or, move to the suburbs.
It's easy for a fit 20 year old who lives on a flood plain to say that more people should cycle to work. It's not so easy for an overweight 40 year old who needs to drop her kids off at daycare, works at the top of a steep hill, and needs to buy groceries on the way home.