We recently moved to a community where we can bike to school, work, and shop on a path that is separate from the road. It has exceeded my expectations on how easier it is to use my bike for daily transportation.

Having biked in NYC pre and post bike lanes, I will say that, while riding in downtown traffic was a fun unique experience if you're into that sort of thing, riding a bike share bike in the bike lane made me feel the same way, that bike as a primary transportation could be real there as well.

There are lots of cheap used bikes on Craigslist that will last a long time. Maintaining them is way cheaper than maintaining a car. Cheap bikes are not as targeted for theft, a cheap lock will go a long way towards protecting from theft.