http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Soderberg numbers and relative car use en Tue, 19 May 2026 20:27:45 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-382633 Sun, 04 Jan 2026 23:10:37 +0000 Arellcat 382633@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I finished 2025 with Sodn small = 1.36 and Sodn large = 4.05. In other words, quite a lot less impressive for me than the last few years.</p> <p><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/beqi/gs5fj14251"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55023944878_5a28d05544_c.jpg"></a><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/beqi/gs5fj14251">Soderberg Number 2025</a></p> <p>I may have given up actively avoiding using or being in a car because there are still no conveniently close car club vehicles and sometimes it's just easier to borrow one or be a passenger in to get things home from IKEA, and much as I like trains, I can be most of the way to Glasgow on the M8 in the same time it takes to cycle to Waverley and mess with ticket machines, and at least with a car you can potter around and about afterwards. That said, I am also no closer to buying a car. I didn't ride my motorbike appreciably more than in 2024, 69 days in 2025 compared with 64 in 2024.</p> <p>But I didn't cycle nearly as often through the year, 108 days compared with 162 days in 2024. This was probably because I managed to injure myself on four separate occasions. :( </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-382603 Fri, 02 Jan 2026 20:43:18 +0000 gembo 382603@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@Frenchy, nice Rocket from The Crypt.<br /> I still haven’t driven a car since the Bruce Highway in Queensland 1993-94 as i get scared.<br /> I have been a gracious passenger thanks to Mrs Garto and other gracious drivers but dont let me sit up front i find that scary too</p> <p>Cycling is up a little, try to get out every day. I dont have the numbers tho from the very expensive bakery. I do have some Membrillo from George Mewes that cost me close to seven pounds, but it is just boiled quince and pectin and inordinately good.</p> <p>When i was in that shop wearing my Tam O Shanter of invincibility and carrying my trusty stick that Mike the Water Bailiff between Currie and BALERNO gave me as I stopped each morning on my commute to pass the time of day with him [RIP Mike] anyway when I was in that shop a very posh woman asked the staff if the small jar of honey was really sixteen pounds. The chap said he believed so. Posh Wifie asked why? Chap said he had just started working in the fridge that is George Mewes [way cooler in both senses than Mellis] but he estimated it was because people. Would pay that for it. A very Jeeves type answer. Go George Mewes, there is a bike shop further up into Comely Bank next to the great Appellation Wines but the bike shop is always closed any time i have been there. I suppose i should go rootle around Gamma Transport Division. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-382601 Fri, 02 Jan 2026 20:08:55 +0000 Frenchy 382601@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Another year on...</p> <p>Wee and big Soderberg numbers for 2025 were 2.00 and 2.90. Both down on 2024, but better than any other post-pandemic year. Number of days cycled and walked was up, although total distance was down from an already pitifully low value.</p> <p>Cost per km for both cycling and driving both went down from 2024. 22p/km for the car, 26p/km for cycling. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-378126 Tue, 07 Jan 2025 20:39:29 +0000 Greenroofer 378126@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@Arellcat - was the one trip in the tram for work the day you came to visit me :-) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-378095 Sat, 04 Jan 2025 23:34:58 +0000 Frenchy 378095@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Wee and big Soderberg numbers for 2024 were 2.17 and 3.75. Both improvements on 2023. The main difference is fewer short car journeys (since the eldest dog no longer wants to go to the weekly greyhound walks, I can walk there and back with the younger two). Actual distance driven was almost identical to 2023. Number of days cycled, and total distance, remain pitifully low, but I am walking more often.</p> <p>A combination of low distance cycled, both bikes needing new wheels and the car not getting an MOT in the 2024 calendar year mean that my £/km for driving was lower than for cycling. 25p/km for the car, 38p/km for cycling. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-378094 Sat, 04 Jan 2025 22:38:28 +0000 Dave 378094@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Impressive! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-378075 Thu, 02 Jan 2025 23:17:38 +0000 HankChief 378075@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Chapeau Arellcat </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-378072 Thu, 02 Jan 2025 19:14:12 +0000 Arellcat 378072@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Another year goes by and I am still mostly avoiding using a car, chiefly because I don't have one. I finished the year with Sodn small = 2.58 and Sodn Large = 15.85.</p> <p><a href="https://flic.kr/p/2qDcQie"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54242274031_df1c4d7829_c.jpg"></a><a href="https://flic.kr/p/2qDcQie">Soderberg Number 2024</a></p> <p>My 2024 was a much better year than 2023 for actively travelling, and my use of infernal combustion was slightly lower overall despite a series of heroic motorbike rides throughout the year, but riding my motorbike is <em>technically</em> not driving a car for Soderberg Number purposes.</p> <p>I had a bad start by being a passenger in a car on day one, but reined myself in until almost the end of February. And even that day was only because my plan of bike+train+bike ended with a flat tyre and no pump two miles after leaving the house. A couple more car days included a trip to Southport and then my first experience of Uber, when bestie and I were on holiday and buses were going to take too long to get around. Some further car days included picking up oil for my motorbike, a mad late evening dash into the Borders to look for aurora borealis (the day after the big event in May), and a couple of trips to the tip, to make it 13 car days in the year. I notched up 64 days on my motorbike, compared with 76 in 2023. This was partly because it's been off the road a couple of times and I've naturally reverted to cycling for the last three months.</p> <p>I improved my use of public transport by a whopping 100% – up from 3 days to 6 days, taking the train on three whole days (although one of them was the Ravenglass &amp; Eskdale, which isn't really public transport); I used the tram just once, for work, and I took a bus only twice: once when we'd had enough walking while on holiday, and then when I had a cold a couple of months ago and took my bike onboard the X62 to get home.</p> <p>I also improved my walking, and was out on 48 days compared with 37 in 2023. Cycling was up too, to 162 days compared with 112 the year before. But that's still a month's worth of cycling journeys less than 2022. The reasons might have been more motorbiking when I was actually away from home for several days at a time, and also because in 2023 I didn't go anywhere on 126 days while in 2024 I got it down to 73 days. That's not bad, given the complete non-summer when it seemed to rain and rain.</p> <p>I have no idea what my Patella Number was, but it was probably in single figures! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-372703 Wed, 03 Jan 2024 21:11:35 +0000 Arellcat 372703@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I finished 2023 with Sodn small = 1.69 and Sodn large = 12.3.</p> <p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/wShEE2T.png"></p> <p>My private car use was down to 12 days, each time as a passenger, and either for transporting loads or while travelling with family. I did however ride my motorbike on 76 days on account of having fixed the infernal machine, and then having someone to ride with on several occasions.</p> <p>I was also still avoiding public transport. I only travelled on a train three times in 2023: once coming back from Glasgow, and a return trip to York for the Rally. I took a bus just once, and that was in May because unbeknownst to myself, I had just caught The Plague and felt awful, and couldn't bear the cycle home from town.</p> <p>Cyclingwise, I managed to ride on 112 days, and I walked on 37 days. Both stats are well down on 2022, but winter 2022-23 was a very bad time for my MH, and as noted, I spent a lot of this summer motorbiking instead of cycling. So collectively, I actively travelled on 147 days, compared with 221 in 2022, so not my best performance ever. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-372696 Wed, 03 Jan 2024 18:43:03 +0000 Frenchy 372696@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Wee and big Soderberg numbers for 2023 were 1.85 and 2.71, so improvements on 2022, but still nowhere near pre-Covid figures.</p> <p>Investment in shiny new Ortlieb panniers meant I spent a 24p/km cycled in 2023, almost double the 2022 figure. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-365643 Tue, 03 Jan 2023 21:34:43 +0000 Frenchy 365643@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I also started keeping track of the amount of money spent on various modes of transport last year:</p> <p>Car 26p/km (petrol contribution was 11p/km)<br /> Bike 14p/km<br /> Bus 29p/km<br /> Train 15p/km</p> <p>Car cost includes petrol, insurance, road tax, MOT, maintenance and ETA membership.<br /> Bike cost includes service, parts, a new helmet, Cycling UK and Audax UK memberships. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-365632 Tue, 03 Jan 2023 12:35:13 +0000 LaidBack 365632@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Via Perth I mean. Just lost my edit time.. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-365630 Tue, 03 Jan 2023 11:34:36 +0000 LaidBack 365630@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>My cycle use is more or less daily but low mileage. Often electric as using a UA. Did enjoy going manual on Fuego after digging it out of basement.<br /> Very little cycling for pleasure since October (laid low with sinnus headaches, not breathing easily).<br /> New year resolution is to get back out for fun rather than moving boxes around!<br /> Car use once as lift.<br /> Van use twice for delivery - as passenger to Aberdeen and Glasgow (Cargo bike e-credits hit a bit by that!)<br /> Bus/train use twice a week in city. Usually one way with walk back.<br /> Long distance more bus than train recently. E-bus to Dundee takes 1 hour 50 and is free for saltire card holders. Average speed only of around 35 mph but does go via Dundee which is 65 miles! Van to Aberdeen only took 2hr 20. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-365624 Mon, 02 Jan 2023 23:17:32 +0000 HankChief 365624@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Bravo both. Fascinating stuff.</p> <p>I didn't record mine but they would be pitiful...</p> <p>Must.do.better. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-365622 Mon, 02 Jan 2023 19:06:51 +0000 Frenchy 365622@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Wee and big Soderberg numbers for 2022 were 1.66 and 2.18. Down from 2.72 and 3.04 in 2021, and from 3.38 and 4.05 in 2019. My motorised travel patterns are back to pre-pandemic levels, but I'm not commuting anymore, so the number of days cycled is a fraction of what it used to be (88 in 2022, compared to over 300 in 2019.</p> <p>2022 was also only the second year since 2014 that I didn't cycle further than the previous year. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-365617 Sun, 01 Jan 2023 19:45:26 +0000 Arellcat 365617@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>For 2022 I finished up with Sodn small = 3.62 and Sodn large = 9.21, both a fair bit lower than I achieved in 2021. Frankly, I couldn't be bothered being incentivised anymore and just did my thing.</p> <p><a href="https://flic.kr/p/2o99GDr"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52600771035_4cd3e195c9.jpg"></a></p> <p>I walked on 42 days which was ten better than 2021, but I cycled on only 192 days, down 18 from last year; collectively I actively travelled on 221 days, which was 15 fewer than last year.</p> <p>I also still used public transport only a tiny amount: I took the tram one day when I went to the zoo, and I used the bus on three days. I didn't go on a train at all, though I drove to watch a few. There were also 65 days when I didn't go anywhere, which at least was a 25% improvement on last year.</p> <p>2022 was a little bit more motory than 2021. I was in a car on 24 days, and used my motorbike on 39 days. The York Rally was back on, but my sparkly purple recumbent was still indisposed at that time so I drove instead of taking the train. I also drove for a week away on holiday, although I did some walking and cycling on a couple of those days as well.</p> <p>I have no idea what my Patella Number was, but I invented a way last winter to layer thick woollen socks against the fronts of my thighs, under my tights, to help keep my knees and quads warmer while cycling, so wearing shorts hasn't been high on my agenda. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-357791 Wed, 05 Jan 2022 22:29:50 +0000 Arellcat 357791@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I miss my cycle commute for fitness purposes, but I don't miss it for any other reason really. I had to get up at 6.15am most days; it was frankly dangerous in winter; it took an hour and a half every day; it left me with perhaps an hour each evening for doing fun stuff, like reading or playing music; and it meant I spent most Saturdays recharging.</p> <p>With WFH being order of the day, I actually commuted only twice in 2021, and both times I went by motorbike (though one commute was to Galashiels, and I didn't want to take the train). I did have to pop into the office a couple of times to clear stuff from my desk, so I cycled those times.</p> <p>All told, I managed to cycle 3888km in 2021, which despite my fears, wasn't actually the least distance I've cycled in one year since 2010 when records began. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-357785 Wed, 05 Jan 2022 12:37:43 +0000 HankChief 357785@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Bravo both - great to see Soderberg numbers giving a useful insight.</p> <p>My own number would have been pitiful - I really miss the cycle commute :-( </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=6#post-357767 Tue, 04 Jan 2022 16:21:43 +0000 Frenchy 357767@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Impressive numbers! My own Soderberg numbers for 2021 were 2.72 and 3.04. </p> <p>I travelled <em>far</em> less by motor vehicle in 2021 than in any year previously. Total distance was just over 2200 km - previous low was 6600 km (records only began in 2018, but it's pretty likely that all previous years were higher than this too).</p> <p>However, no commuting by bike has cancelled all that out, in Soderberg number terms. I only cycled on 121 days in 2021 - down from 310ish in 2018 and 19. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=5#post-357762 Mon, 03 Jan 2022 23:52:35 +0000 Arellcat 357762@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I finished up 2021 with Sodn small = 6.94 and Sodn large = 16.86. Both were infinite until mid-May, when I was necessarily a passenger in a car to get to Bathgate for my first vaccination. For jags two and three I cycled.</p> <p><a href="https://flic.kr/p/2mVb4EX"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51797565663_bbab8101e1_z.jpg"></a></p> <p>Through the year I cycled on 210 days (I did a month's worth of bike trips more than 2020) but I walked on 32 days, which was actually 12 days less than in 2020. I actively travelled on 236 days altogether, up 20 from 2020.</p> <p>In 2020 I was a passenger or the driver of a car on just 19 days; in 2021 I reduced this to 14 days. Six of those days were in order to have an actual going-away-holiday; of those six days, three were also spent cycling and then putting the bike on the car. Total car distance was 1098km (of which 900km was the holiday).</p> <p>I rode my motorbike on 19 days, which barely justifies the cost of keeping it.</p> <p>As for public transport, I cannot hold any high ground, no doubt to <a href="http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=20759&amp;page=3#post-357725">Morningsider's consternation</a> (and my own). With the York Rally cancelled for a second year in a row, and no work meetings in exciting faraway cities, and indeed having The Fear when the world is still all covidy, for 2021 I reduced my public transport trips to a single journey, when I caught the train home from Tweedbank, having cycled the long way to get there.</p> <p>I haven't been keeping records of my Patella Number*, but it will be rather small because I feel the cold a lot, and often wear lycra tights or leg warmers over my bike shorts.</p> <p>* whose name I have just invented </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=5#post-343378 Tue, 05 Jan 2021 16:11:56 +0000 acsimpson 343378@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I'm a warm weather short wearer but I have a friend who I met while out walking yesterday who is still wearing shorts. His son was too up until their first sledging outing at which point he changed his mind. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=5#post-343374 Tue, 05 Jan 2021 15:44:17 +0000 wingpig 343374@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@HankChief I'd forgotten about having been in the office and having had to wear long trousers up until March. Perhaps have voluntary and mandatory variants of the number? Which would ¾ shorts count as? I usually have my knees covered by ¾ shorts but make up for it by only wearing trainer socks and exposing my ankles except when I'm wearing walking boots at the allotment. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=5#post-343371 Tue, 05 Jan 2021 14:48:57 +0000 Arellcat 343371@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>Strava would tell me how many days I've ridden a bike - but of course that was mostly exercise, not transport.</em></p> <p>Your Soderberg numbers ought to be pretty high, no?</p> <p>Hankchief's methodology didn't particularly differentiate between cycling as utility/car replacement, and cycling as exercise/fun. I had many days last summer when I went investigating things I'd seen on a map; I could have used $infernalcombustionvehicle to get there but chose not to because the attraction of sunlight and the fun of getting there was important. No point zooming off into the middle of nowhere, dressed head to toe in black leather and MX boots, rambling up and down for maybe half an hour, overheating in the process, and then zooming home again. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=5#post-343366 Tue, 05 Jan 2021 13:29:46 +0000 HankChief 343366@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Great work by those recording their stats and getting great numbers.</p> <p>With a huge potential for threaddrift, I'm pondering a new metric but need your help in naming it...</p> <p>Number of days you wore shorts or skirts above the knee / Number of days you wore trousers or lower leg coverings.</p> <p>My 2020 saw me rack up a score of 3 as the trousers went in the cupboard in mid March when I stopped going into the office and only came back out mid Decemeber when I finally admitted defeat.</p> <p>Any one top that? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=5#post-343358 Tue, 05 Jan 2021 11:50:28 +0000 fimm 343358@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Yes, I wish I'd kept records last year...<br /> I travelled by car once in December (on Christmas Day) and not at all in November. We did get a few trips away over the summer but I suspect I could work out exactly how many days I have been in a car since March if I really wanted to.<br /> (The last time I drove a significant distance without a passenger was July 2019.)</p> <p>I have been in a train once since March, and buses on two different days.</p> <p>Strava would tell me how many days I've ridden a bike - but of course that was mostly exercise, not transport. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=5#post-343178 Sat, 02 Jan 2021 19:22:25 +0000 Arellcat 343178@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>The problem* with the Soderberg methodology, as Hankchief pointed out in the original thread, is that it becomes increasingly sensitive to the car element, as you notch up more active travel journeys. One day in a car can require several days walking or cycling to compensate. That's why if I couldn't avoid being in a car, I often tried to get out for a walk or a bike ride in the same day. I don't own a car, and what with lockdown and exploring locally and summer and stuff, I had no particular inclination to ride my motorbike.</p> <p>* incentive </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=5#post-343173 Sat, 02 Jan 2021 18:03:39 +0000 gembo 343173@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@dr French you using the Napier Log calculations? @arellcat has higher soderberg than you but fewer days in the motor? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=5#post-343155 Sat, 02 Jan 2021 12:23:57 +0000 Frenchy 343155@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>137 days cycled.<br /> 13 other active days*.<br /> 50 days of car use.<br /> 8 other days of motor vehicles.</p> <p>All of these are considerably lower than 2019.</p> <p>Big Soderberg = 3.08<br /> Wee Soderberg = 2.66</p> <p>Which are actually down on last year. Car mileage was only slightly lower than 2019 - far fewer short journeys but not much difference in long journeys.</p> <p>*Walked to work a few times due to weather or punctures, a couple of runs and a few days clearing the pavements of the street when it was snowy. I don't count walking the dogs. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=5#post-343136 Fri, 01 Jan 2021 23:56:05 +0000 I were right about that saddle 343136@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>So many numbers. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=18494&page=5#post-343135 Fri, 01 Jan 2021 23:31:32 +0000 gembo 343135@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Excellent numbers @arellcat </p>