Your commute could be faster, cheaper, and more fun

I recently took on a contract gig in midtown Atlanta. I live in the ‘burbs, 26 miles away.

In the morning, this isn’t an issue for me, since I get up super early and hit the road so I can get to the gym, and the highway is pretty empty at that hour. In the evenings, however, Google Maps generally tells me that it takes an hour to get home.

So I started looking at some options. I already have a Peach Pass, and the Northwest Corridor Express lanes save me 10-15 minutes. But those lanes don’t start until you’re outside the Atlanta Perimeter.

Sitting in traffic inside the Perimeter, right next to the HOV lane, I remembered something – motorcycles are allowed in the HOV lane in Georgia. So if I commuted by motorcycle, I could get in the HOV lane. I’m thinking this could save me at least another 10-15 minutes. Between that and the express lanes, my commute could go from one hour to 30 minutes.

Then I got thinking about the rest of the benefits of commuting on the bike. Initially, I thought the express lanes were free for motorcycles, but that seems to be the case only on the I-85 corridor. (WTF, Georgia SRTA?) So that savings is out the window. Not a big deal, so far it’s averaging about $2.31/day.

I’ll save some fuel money, too. According to fuelly, a 2012 Ninja 1000 gets about 38mpg. My Mustang is rated for 25mpg. If I was willing to get a less thirsty bike or change the gearing on the Ninja, I could do even better. But I’m not interested in either, to be honest. I bought the Ninja because I wanted power and speed and torque, and I don’t want to dilute that.

Commuting on a motorcycle is faster, cheaper, and more fun! You should try it. Click To Tweet

But most of all, when we’re all sitting in traffic, and I go whizzing by you in the HOV lane on the Ninja, not only am I saving time and money… I’m having more fun.