I used to have a problem with being late. So I was worried about using a bike to get everywhere, since on a bike it took me on average three times as long to get anywhere. Imagine my surprise when I started arriving early.
Often, if I can get to a place quickly, I subconsciously treat it as an extension of where I currently am, and don't give myself nearly enough time to actually get there on time. Michael Munger, economist and former political science chair at Duke University, summed it up in one line: "The closer my office is to the room, the later I arrive at the meeting."
With a bike, not only do I mentally accept that a commute will take longer, I also build in mechanical issues — popping tires is regular when biking, for example.
On the other hand, while riding a bike, I eliminate the variable of auto traffic. I estimated it took me half an hour to bike what I mentally estimated took 10 minutes to drive. So when I arrived on bike after only 20 minutes, I was surprised — and early.
I learned that adding distance can actually lead to a changed perspective on time to arrive somewhere, and so theoretically if I change my mindset, maybe I can be on time in my car. I'm still working on that trick, though.