Tuesday, June 10, 2014

(Have Mercy), Been Waitin' On The Bus All Day

(not my photo)

Many years ago, when I live in the DC area, I rode public transportation pretty regulary.  Or at least occasionally.  Or at least the second half of the time I lived in DC (when I worked downtown). Not bad, but frankly it was as cheap to drive, if I had 1 other person riding w/ me.  Time was probably comperable, thanks to DC Traffic

When we moved to the midwest, Public Transit wasn't really a viable option, based on where I lived vs where I worked...  But for the past 6 years, I've been in a location where public transit is at least an option.  But I still drive.  Why?  Well, I did a little analysis, and confirmed what I had presumed to be the case. 

I live just under 12 miles from work.  I spend about 45 minutes / day (total) on my communte.  My schedule isn't locked to 8-5, but varies day to day (primarily when I leave). No tolls.  No parking costs.

What if I took public transportation?  In my case: walk to the bus, bus to the transfer station, another bus, and finally walk to the office.  Each walk would be 0.4 - 0.5 mile, which quite reasonable (when the weather isn't bad).

Not bad, BUT:  Based on the published schedules, total time would be about 140 minutes per day.  Just under 2.5 hours, more than triple the drive time.   That's a lot of time: almost 7 hrs/wk additional time!  And missing any connection would add at least 1/2 hour.  But what of all the money I'd save?  Well.....  As I read the schedules, the daily cost would be about 70% higher than what I'm currently spending on gas.  Even if I add estimated auto maintenance costs (from the web), it's still about 25% higher

Hmm...  Public transportation would add a LOT more time, and cost a good bit more.  And reduce my flexability. 
(not my photo)


Sorry, it's a no brainer.  I'll keep driving.  Guess I'm just a bad person...

No comments: