As a person who grew up taking public transit or walking almost everywhere, learning to ride a motorcycle was a total game-changer for me. While I had long been accustomed to the power of a good pair of headphones to deter unwanted conversations in public places, a full-face helmet (especially if you have a Bluetooth headset, so you can still listen to your music if you like) takes that concept to the Nth degree.
No longer was I subject to the whims of someone else's schedule; only traffic. But if you take a public bus, you're also subject to traffic snarls, on top of whatever schedule the bus company is either succeeding or failing at sticking to.
And compared to parking a car (even a little hatchback like the VW GTI I used to drive), parking a motorbike on crowded city streets is about a million times easier, at a rough estimate. Of course, there are safety concerns, as there always are when you ride a motorcycle. And that's why I'm a big believer in ATGATT, which so far has served me well.
I am, incidentally, telling you this while writing about commuting in a city (Chicago) and a state (Illinois) where lane splitting and filtering are not legal at the time of writing. So while I can't offer concrete proof that riding a motorbike to and from work has saved me a ton of time, I can tell you that it's definitely saved time parking. And also that, if I lived somewhere where lane filtering and splitting were legal, it would easily have saved me even more time when I was commuting regularly that way.
And now, an astonishing 62% of people surveyed in a recent poll of city dwellers in Thailand said that's exactly how they see motorcycles: As a tool for good time management. Like many people everywhere, they want to spend less time on their commute, and more time doing things they actually enjoy. Whether that's spending time with friends and family, engaging in fun activities, or something else, what it clearly isn't is being stuck in traffic.
Lane filtering and splitting are, incidentally, common practice in Bangkok. How much time you'll save will vary based on a number of factors, but having been in cars stuck in Bangkok traffic and having also ridden a motorcycle through the heart of BKK Chinatown on a Friday night, I can tell you which I'd rather be doing (yes, even in spite of the high heat and humidity).
And I'm not alone. In fact, many of the people who buy motorcycles in Thailand view it as a "time investment," according to a 2025 poll from Krungsri Auto. The auto lender's data gathering from its customers has led it to project a continued growth in motorcycle sales of between 1.5 and 2.5 percent per year through at least 2027 as a result. Considering that Thailand's Department of Land Transport recorded 22 million registered motorcycles throughout the country last year, those are serious numbers.
But there, as in many places, road safety (especially for riders) is a major concern. The number of road accidents involving motorcycles in Thailand is worryingly high, and there are regularly major safety campaigns about it as a result. That is, in fact, why a lot of my own family doesn't ride; safety concerns.
It's a personal decision, and one that only you can make. But if you ride a motorcycle for everyday tasks, and not just as a leisure activity, is it because it saves you time? How did you first come upon this discovery, if that's you? If you have any great commuting stories (particularly if they involve saving time by riding your bike), let me know in the comments below.
