Driving to work

[fbhjr]

The city in which I work has been conducting a survey on people’s commuting habits.
So, to answer their questions, I had to take a hard look at it.

Driving back and forth each day takes me an average of 135 minutes.
Going by train would take a minimum of 228. And, that assumes I walk into the subway station and a train is waiting for me, I get out at the train station and my computer train leaves as soon as I step on, etc.
So, 93 minutes a day more, and probably a lot more.

Cost wise, I spend about $8.10 a day driving in. That includes, gas, tolls, and an average wear on the car cost based on what I normally pay in service charges. My company pays for parking, so I don’t have that cost.

If I just took public transportation for one day, it would be $33.01, or more than 4 times the cost.
Of course, my company is willing to give me $300 a month for a commuter pass if I don’t park in their garage, and a commuter pass costs less than a ticket for a day.

So, if I take all that into consideration, it would drop the cost to only $8.71.
More than the $8.10 I’d spend driving, but not too much more.

If everything else was the same, I’d be willing to spend $0.61 a day to reduce my footprint.

But, those extra 93 minutes a day mean it is NOT the same.
7 3/4 hours a week is almost another day of work that I would be spending on the commute, and I am just not willing to do that.

And, that would be almost 8 hours a week MORE than the 11 1/4 I spend on it now making it a total of 19 hours a week, probably more as the trains won’t magically be ready when I am.

So, I plan to continue driving. At least my car gets good mileage.
I really wish the numbers added up differently, but they don’t.

Comments

[threemeninaboat]

I ran the same numbers and have a similar commute; there is a train station at both ends but it takes forever and I have to pee.

[armiphlage]

When I have to visit a customer in a different city, it's an hour longer to take public transit. But I can sit and read on the commuter train, there's free wifi, and there's a washroom in each train car.

[brittdreams]

It is tragic that in the US commuting via public transit is often more complicated and time-consuming than driving.

[fbhjr]

My dad commuted by train for decades. But, his office was near a train station and there was one within walking distance of our house.

I’d love to do it, but getting to and from the train is just too much time, effort and money.

[brittdreams]

Your dad's commute sounds lovely. I grew up and live in the South where it's just not possible to commute via public transit. I looked at it at one point for my last job but, the bus doesn't even stop on my road so I'd have to walk over a mile on the side of the road (no sidewalk) to get to the bus stop and then have to change buses to get to where I worked. And all that for what was a 15-minute drive.

[fbhjr]

My father picked the spot for his house with that in mind. Then, the state build a highway in his backyard and he had to move the house, but he kept it in walking distance.

It is sad that these things don’t work out better. There are thousands of other cars out on the road with me, and I’d love to combine them into a single big train. But, it is not set up to work.

[brittdreams]

That is really unfortunate about the highway being built in the backyard. It makes a lot of sense to me to pick a house with public transit in mind.

I think about how combining the cars into a single big train would be beneficial every time I'm on I-4 in Florida. And then I get mad at Rick Scott (former Florida governor, current US senator) who turned down money from the Obama administration which would've helped to get that built.

[palusbuteo]

YUP.

This was the same frustration I had when I was working in Boston until the end of last year.

Commuter rail only "saved" me about $10 but was just as long or almost double the time as driving, etc.
And, if I missed one train I would have to wait an hour and a half for the next available one, which would then turn into getting home at 9PM instead of 6:30.

You of course have the advantage of having a much more efficient car than mine. So it's interesting to see the difference is for your commute.
And, your company is (happy) to pay for parking or train tickets. The place I worked for did not. etc etc.

And of course the other problem with commuter rail & subway is they are not any more reliable than driving in.
All it takes is one little fender-bender on the highway and traffic is at a standstill for hours.
All it takes is one glitch in the rail system, signals, or whatever, and the trains can be 2-3 hours late or not able to run at all.

But I know I'm preaching to the choir. But I feel for you and the commute royally sucks.