MOBILIANCE

Commute Time by Mode Calculator

Compare how long the same trip takes by car, transit, bike or e-bike, e-scooter, and on foot — moving time plus the real overhead of parking, waiting, and locking up.

Distance and speeds must share a unit — km with km/h, or miles with mph. Overhead is the fixed minutes for parking, waiting, or locking up.

Parking, walking to and from the car.
Walking to the stop, waiting, changes.

Door-to-door time by mode

Car
27 min
Transit
34 min
Bike / e-bike
27 min
E-scooter
24 min
Walking
1h 36m

How the estimate works

Moving time is just distance divided by average speed. What makes commutes feel slow is the overhead around the edges, so the tool adds a fixed number of minutes to the modes that have it — parking a car, waiting for a bus. Adding the two together gives a fairer door-to-door comparison than raw speed alone.

Seeing the modes side by side often reveals that the quickest option for a short city trip is not the car. That is the everyday case for micro-mobility: not that it is faster in a straight line, but that it wastes less time at each end.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the calculator work out each time?

For every mode it divides your distance by that mode's average speed to get the moving time, then adds a fixed overhead in minutes for the parts that don't scale with distance — finding parking and walking to the car, waiting for and changing transit, or locking up a bike. The result is a door-to-door estimate rather than just the time in motion.

Why can a bike or e-scooter beat a car in the city?

In dense traffic a car's average speed drops and its overhead climbs — you crawl between lights, then hunt for parking and walk the last stretch. A bike or e-scooter keeps a steadier pace, parks at the door, and skips the search entirely. Over short urban distances that combination often wins, which is exactly what this tool helps you see.

What speeds should I enter?

Use realistic averages for your route, not top speeds. Urban car averages are often 20–30 km/h once traffic and lights are counted; commuter cyclists average 15–20 km/h; e-scooters and e-bikes are typically 18–25 km/h; brisk walking is about 5 km/h. Adjust to match your own experience.

Should distance and speed be in the same units?

Yes. Enter distance in kilometres with speeds in km/h, or distance in miles with speeds in mph. Mixing units will give a nonsensical answer.

Educational estimate only. Real journey times vary with traffic, weather, and timetables — treat the result as a planning guide.