Karl,

Of course a peddle bike is not a tool truck nor should society want this. There should be room for both. Those people who can cycle to work should and those who can't must be free to use the car. There are plenty of business case commuters in comparison to guys who need to bring a large tool set to private residences.

With respect to 5 miles commuting. That is a pretty ideal distance for a peddle bike assuming the roads to it are up to specs for bike riding. It is actually the distance at which Dutch research has found that people are willing to commute on normal upright city bikes. In fact, the average time lost with respect to taking the car was found to be less then 10 minutes per trip which is nothing when compared over a whole workday. Especially, during rush hour the difference can be small and often be less by bike then car. But I grant you that The Netherlands have excellent infrastructure for bikes often allowing you to take short cuts.

Mind you peddling 5 miles in 25 minutes is pretty slow for a person who rides alot (only 19km/h). Even when I go to the grovery store I do at least 23 km/h (or 20% faster). At first you don't or sweet doing so but after a few times your body adjusts to this effort and you'll go faster and start to sweet less or significantly later. You'll do this trip under 20 minutes; unless their is steep climbing involved.

But of course their are always situations where biking is not practical as probably your case is. The idea is however that it is practical for a large portion of the others. Those who can should. Other then that, laying down bike paths using concrete slabs or even asfalt is much easier to do then making a road for cars that need to withstand 18 ton trucks. It may not even be a very large expense with local communities to lay down a few dedicated bike paths parallel to the road.

But this is of course a chicken-and-egg problem.

Wouter