So I've been playing with the idea of making use of public transportation for my daily commute.
I drive a not terribly fuel efficient vehicle -- on average I see about 22mpg (17 to 18 in the city, 23ish on the freeway). I could slightly improve this by removing my roof rack, but I'd end up putting it on and taking it off 2 to 3 times a week and I'm just not willing to deal with the hassle.
So based on my car's MPG and the current cost of fuel ($4.41 for premium), I've come up with the following metrics:
Costs:
- per mile: ~$0.20
- to visit GF: $7.15 (one way drive to SF -- $14.30 roundtrip)
- to commute to work: $1.60 (one way drive from Mtn. View to Palo Alto -- $3.20 roundtrip)
I happen to live pretty damn close to the caltrain station in Mountain View. From a cost perspective, it doesn't justify me replacing my daily work commute with the cal train on a day by day basis. Their costs are:
- One Way $2.25
- Day Pass $4.50
In a normal month I prob. commute from home to work, 20 days a week. In individual tickets, that would put me at $90/month -- up from $64 by car. But if I bought their monthly pass, I could make do at just $59.75 -- not a significant savings but perhaps worth the knowledge that I'm not using any oil in my commute.
To get to the city from my place or work, it would cost me either $8 roundtrip or $11.50 depending on which zone I arrive at (either Milbrae for a BART transfer, or 4th and King). If i transfer to BART I pay another $7.90 roundtrip which puts me to $15.90 roundtrip on Bart/Caltrain -- pretty damn steep.
There's actually a flat charge for extending travel to another zone if you have a monthly pass on Cal Train, however -- $1.75 each way. So for an extra $3.50 on top of my normal commute to PA, I could take cal train to the city and back for something like $6.22 which is quite a savings (cost of monthly pass divided by number of days used in a month plus the flat upgrade charge). Similarly, this method would see CalTrain + BART roundtrip costing $14.12.
So this certainly becomes financially justifiable.
(Car vs. CalTrain -- in roundtrip costs)
- to SF: $14.30 vs $6.22
- to work: $3.20 vs 2.71
On a month by month basis the savings would be thus calculated:
(14.30-6.22)*8 = $64.64 (saved taking the train to SF every month)
(3.20-2.71)*20 = $9.8 (saved taking train to work every every month)
total: $74.74
Other considerations
Cons:
- Planning; I hate planning (having to factor in departure times of trains, what the weather is like, rushing to not miss my train, etc)
- Transporting "goods". I train on the bike a lot and usually bring a good amount of equipment to and from work -- not convenient without a car
- Time: I can drive to the city in 40 minutes or less -- train will take anywhere from 30 minutes to 55 minutes just for one leg. Than there's factoring in getting to and from the station -- with a bike maybe another 10 minutes)
- Lagging: No just get-up and go like you can with a car
Pros:
- Cost: we've already seen it's cheaper -- particularly with the commute to SF
- Car maintenance: less wear and tear -- reduced risk of accidents
- Downtime: More reading/working time: basically an extra 30 to 50 minutes every trip SF to spend in a book or on the laptop
- Scheduling: Force me to adapt a more set schedule (good for training/recovery) -- I could train in the morning
- Greener: I'm on an anti gasoline kick right now and am dying for a hip electric car to call my own -- this could be a cool near term solution for me
Solution:
I think I'll go ahead and give this a shot. To do so, starting next month, I will:
- Purchase a monthly pass for Cal Train
- Drive to work only on Tues (so I can get to a mountain bike ride later in the day) or days I know before hand I'll need a car on.
- Get my training done first thing in the morning
- Use my Mountain Bike as my commuter