Ok, so in theory that sounds good, but for me that'd be highly, HIGHLY impractical and would add a good 20 minutes onto my already long commute. There'd be nowhere on the edge of town for me to safely park my car; plus my car has no way of carrying a bike on it. I do use my bike for errands around town, but for work it's just not going to be a good option for me.

There's a better way to do this. Taking bikes on the bus during rush hour is just a bad idea and not courteous to other passengers.

What you can do (I used to do this all the time back when I lived too far from work) is bike to your train/bus station or stop, lock up your bike (buy a good lock and lock it through the frame and the rear wheel), and take the subway or bus the rest of the way.
Way more practical than trying to squeeze a bike into your Volkswagen.

It might seem like it takes more time, but in reality, during rush hour buses and cars go pretty slowly because of traffic and frequent stops. I usually beat the bus to the station - the bus takes 30 minutes to get there, and I would take 25 to bike and maybe another 1 or 2 minutes to lock up.

Yeah I agree with the other posters... there is sooo much wrong with just leaving my car parked on the street somewhere in LA.

Plus, how are you supposed to bike in business-casual? I don't see a pencil skirt working so well... I mean you could bring your gym bag and change, but things will get wrinkled, etc, and you would have to re-do your makeup... eek just sounds like a disaster.

I mean if you're casual and close, and you don't have the ghetto in between like I do, then yeah, I just don't think it's necessarily a good solution for big city dwellers.

It is forbidden to take bike into the bus, tram and some trains here so this wouldn't actually be possible for me.

I bike in pretty nice clothes on a daily basis on my commute. If I'm wearing a skirt or dress I try to keep it semi-loose (ie, more an A-line than a pencil skirt) and just wear bike shorts underneath. If I'm wearing pants (jeans are the only pants I won't wear on a bike - too stiff), I have little velcro reflector cuffs I bought from MEC for $2.00 (you could just use a hair elastic or shoelace) to tie the flare part of the pant leg tight so that it doesn't get caught in the chain. Super dorky, but you'll be going so fast no one will notice or care. As for shoes; anything flat is just fine on a bike. If I want to wear heels, I put them in my bag and wear a pair of slip-on canvas sneakers and change when I get in.

I don't find I get very sweaty during the commute, even though I'm biking around 17mph when I'm commuting. The wind cools you off just fine - you don't need to wear a huge bulky coat, even on chilly mornings (just make sure to wear good gloves!). I wear waterproof mascara and a little undereye concealer, so makeup's not much of a concern. I can see a problem if you're doing the full-caked on look, though I've been wearing eyeshadow a lot lately and I don't really get any smearing or smudging problems, although some less pigmented brands might fade a little. Lipstick, if I'm wearing it - well, really, how long does lipstick take to apply? 45 seconds? And while the helmet hair is annoying, ladies, WEAR A HELMET. Really, how long does it take to brush your hair and put it back in a bun or a pony tail?

It's most certainly doable, ladies. I don't think that bringing your bike on the bus is a good idea - bike to a bus stop instead - but otherwise there's no reason not to. And the endorphin rush you get after makes it totally worth it.

bikes aren't allowed on the bus

yeah, sorry fitsugar, seems the consensus is against this one. Are bikes welcome on public transport in san francisco?

Cycling to the train station / subway or busstop is great idea though. A friend of mine does that in London - not at all the bike-friendliest of cities but she enjoys the excercise and (not so) fresh air before work.

I've cycled all the way to work in the past - always in my work clothes. Worked out just fine and even though i cycled moderately so as not to get stinky , it was faster than waiting for the bus to crawl through the rushhour traffic

All buses in Atlanta have bike racks on the front. On the train, they encourage one bike per car.

Unfortunately, so many people commute to a city/high traffic area, it is very dangerous to ride a bicycle. And anyone from the south knows that those little narrow country roads are super scary, especially with a big Semi coming from behind. I lived in many states and there is just not any accommodation for bike riders. I've literally felt a lot safer on my motorcycle believe it or not.
I think safety wins over gas on this one.

yeah! i've been saying this myself for a long time, too.

How I wish I can ride my bike to work.

This would be something I would love to do when I go to community college next year. BUT our buses here have no racks to place them on the front of the bus. Plus I would have to drive all the way out to a huge mall just to get the bus. I would much rather do mass-transit then having to spend $45 bucks for a parking pass PER car.

I may ride my bike in the summer since I work in a environment where you wear old clothes you don't care about what happens to them. But the ride is 1/2 hr away, as I have ridden back home around nighttime.