Comparisons like this are usually rigged by whoever writes them. The trick is always the same: price the car at fuel only, and price everything else in full. So here are the assumptions first, and you can argue with them before you see the answer.
Five miles each way, 220 working days, 2,200 miles a year. Car costed at the UK average of 47p a mile, which includes fuel, insurance, tax, servicing, tyres and depreciation. Bicycle and e-bike costed over a five-year life including servicing, consumables and kit. Bus and train figures are illustrative — fares vary enormously by operator and region, so replace them with yours.
A five-mile commute, a year at a time
2,200 miles — every cost included, not just the fuel
Show the data
| Bicycle | £250 |
| Electric bike | £430 |
| Bus, monthly pass | £780 |
| Car, free parking | £1,034 |
| Train, season ticket | £1,100 |
| Car, £4-a-day parking | £1,914 |
| How you travel | Cost a year | What is in the number |
|---|---|---|
| Bicycle | ~£250 | £500 bike over five years, plus tyres, chains, brake pads, lights, lock and waterproofs |
| Electric bike | ~£430 | £1,600 e-bike over five years, servicing, consumables, and about £5 a year of electricity |
| Bus, monthly pass | ~£780 | £65 a month, 12 months. Buying singles each day typically costs more |
| Car, free parking | ~£1,034 | 2,200 miles at 47p all-in |
| Train, season ticket | ~£1,100 | Illustrative short-distance season ticket |
| Car, £4-a-day parking | ~£1,914 | The same car, plus £880 of city-centre parking |
What the table actually shows
Three things worth sitting with:
- The bicycle is not slightly cheaper. It is four times cheaper. Even loaded with a decent bike, mudguards, lights, a good lock and a set of waterproofs, it costs roughly a quarter of the car.
- Parking, not fuel, is what breaks the car’s case. Free parking at work keeps the car competitive with the train. Paid city-centre parking nearly doubles the cost and pushes it to the bottom of the list.
- The e-bike is the interesting middle. It costs less than half the car, handles hills and a five-mile distance without arriving sweating, and needs no licence, tax, insurance or MOT.
The cost that is not money
Over five miles in a British town, the car’s time advantage is smaller than it feels. Add walking to the car, defrosting in winter, traffic and parking at the far end, and the door-to-door difference against a bike is often five to ten minutes. On a bike, that time also counts as exercise you would otherwise have to find separately — and on the train it is time you can read or work in, which a driver cannot.
Reliability cuts the other way. A bus that comes every 40 minutes and does not always come is not a serious alternative, and no spreadsheet will make it one. This is why the honest answer for most households is not one mode but a mix.
The one-car household question
The comparison gets far more dramatic if switching lets a household drop a car entirely. A second car costs its full standing charges — insurance, tax, MOT, breakdown cover and depreciation — whether it does 10,000 miles a year or 2,000. Replacing it with a bike, occasional taxis and a car club membership commonly saves £1,500–£2,500 a year, and that is before parking.
Before deciding either way, put your own figures into the cost calculator. The number that matters is the standing-cost line: that is what disappears if the car goes, and it is what stays if you simply drive it less.
Sources: 47p per mile and the UK average cost breakdown — NimbleFins. Bicycle, e-bike, bus and rail figures are illustrative worked examples, not national averages. Last reviewed September 2026.