Comments on: Save $9,330 a Year by Riding Transit

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 07:09:29 +0000

Well, Steve, no doubt there are several broader costs that should be taken into account if you want to evaluate the savings that would occur if many people made the switch. But that wasn’t really the point of this article. The point here is, for once, not to look at the macro but to look at the micro. If an INDIVIDUAL decides, all by themself, to switch from driving to riding transit, THEY will will probably save thousands of dollars.

Of course, if a lot of people switch, over time the distribution of tax money (for roads, transit, wars, oil spill clean-ups, etc) will be different and then health and environmental externalities of our transportation choices will be different.

But, in the short term, the point is that you can start saving considerable money for yourself TODAY by riding transit (“you” being the average person).

By: MD

MD — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:47:30 +0000

Sure that works if you live in big city… there is no transit for most of us outside big cities, and quite frankly I do not want to live in a big city. To me, living in a big city is akin to stuffing a pile of rats into a cardboard box… no thanks.

By: Steve from Boulder CO

Steve from Boulder CO — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:41:10 +0000

I certainly appreciate the benefits of transit, but this method of comparison is way too simplistic.

Just to start with, most transit systems are heavily subsidized by general taxes. For example, in the Denver Metro area, revenues other than farebox and passes account for about 80% of transit revenues.

On the other side, much of road costs are tax subsidized, and clearly our oil habit is subsidized by military spending, tax breaks, etc.

And there is the environmental issue — in our particular area, other than Boulder-Denver regional buses, the average passenger miles per gallon is in the low 20’s — about what single occupant car mileage is.

So the analysis needs a LOT more work to be useful. Perhaps the one clear benefit is that there is usually unused capacity, so that areas with transit can slightly more cheaply absorb population growth. But of course, that brings its own set of costs that are typically passed on to the general taxpayer as explicit or implicit subsidies — stretched water supplies, traffic congestion, overused social services, inadequate parks, etc.

By: Maguire

Maguire — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 06:52:18 +0000

It is very disturbing to think of how much I actually spend a month on transportation since I no longer live in NYC. It really makes me angry sometimes, on those days when you really just don’t want to drive, but would rather zone out and read a book or listen to music and people watch, like I used to on the subway.

Those are some pretty remarkable savings for riding public transportation. I really never thought that they were that significant.

I would like to recommend an interview series on Alternative Energies and encourage you to leave feed back or to write in.

http://www.ourblook.com/topic/alternative_energies.html