- A bike is not annually thousands. A good quality bike will last you a decade or more. Not with $0 maintenance, but not hundreds per year.
- Commute times on a bike are shorter than the bus. I'm not even talking e-bike now. Due to traffic congestion effects (that hardly affect bicycles at all), you can beat even automobile commuting on a plain human-powered bike. With the e-bike in the equation, it can be no contest. You can go 40-50 km/h for most of the commute, and zip around bumper-to-bumper traffic like it's not there.
- Convenience: hop on it and go anywhere you want, at any time. No waiting. E.g. go out for lunch in the middle of the workday.
- Transit is a good place to catch viruses from people. Complete non-starter in this pandemic.
- Transit is a good place to be assaulted, robbed and exposed to cigarette smoke.
- The bike offers freedom from irritating and depressing exposure to people from socially incompatible classes. (Well almost; there are some drivers out there: but you're not sitting next to them for 30 minutes.)