US Public Transit Riders Save $9,200 a Year Compared to Drivers

"It looks like public transportation is a better investment than we thought--the average American who takes public transit saves a staggering $9,240 a year."

What? Let's run some numbers. Let's say the average is 15K miles a year. Let's say they get 20 mpg at $3.00 per gallon. That's $2,200 per year in gas.

Let's say they bought a $20K car brand new. Let's say they keep that car for ten years and the value at the end is zero. Unrealistic, but that works out to about to a total of $24,800 at 6% for a 4 year loan using the equation I = p * r * t.

Over 10 years that is $2,480 per year. Add gas and that is just under $4,700 per year.

Insurance adds another $1,000 and tires, oil, and maintenance is another $1,000 per year, so I figure $7,000 per year if you estimate way high.

Given that, riding public transportation must pay you to ride the bus or train $2,000 per year.

Not everyone buys a new $20K car. Most buy a used car at less than half that price. The national average was $8244. Then again, not every one lives in the city where there is comprehensive public transportation. The census states 82% of the US population, but that is misleading, because most cities lack comprehensive transportation that satisfies the people.

There are 62 million cars registered in the US. So, that tells me that public transportation is either not that desirable or the real savings not that much to justify the inconvenience. The fact is, most US citizens people like their independence and another group of people think that they should not have it.

Oh, wait a minute. The American Public Transportation Association did the survey. No bias there.

If you're able to park for free, your numbers are pretty good.

I am taking the subway into Boston these days. I costs $3.4 per day home to work and back. That's $17.00 per week. I was driving and parking for free and it cost me about $22.50 per week for gas. So I save all of $5.00 a week. Adding in the cost of financing a car and depreciation makes little sense since I own one. I save on upkeep, and that can cost around $1,000 per year. Still, I can't see close to $9,000 a year for the average commuter.

However, if you're driving into NYC or Boston, you're not parking for free. Boston daily paring can range from $15 to $25 per day. That's $75.00 min a week or $3,750 for 50 weeks. Monthly rates are better but not whole magnitudes better. This goes way up if you were to take the toll road and pay each day. That's an additional $5-6 per day, depending on where you start from.

The parking fee is the big thing here. I live in Portland, one of the listed cities. I can drive to work in 15 minutes at a cost of less than $12 a week for premium gas. It is just under 5 miles. Parking is free for me . Taking the bus cost $86 a month, so for me driving is much cheaper and quite a bit faster since taking the bus uses one hour of time or more and I can't work on the bus because of crowding. ON the other hand my roommate works downtown. Parking is around $300 a month near her job. When she has to drive, which is seldom, the traffic makes it an hour commute and then she still has to find a parking space. The train commute downtown is also an hour but there is no stress like that from heavy traffic. The train pass is the same $86 a month. So she saves over $200 a month just in parking fees not paid, not including gas usage and wear and tear on the car. This is nowhere near the $798 savings listed for Portland. She also can't work on the train because of crowding. She does get under $20 a month in transportation reimbursement from her job.

For some people public transportation is a better idea than driving but I don't see this number as anywhere near the listed numbers by the "American Public Transportation Association".

Saying you can work on the public transportation is bogus here. If you can work then the train/bus is underutilized and likely to be reduced in service

I think they are more than a little biased.

Not listed is all the problem you have to deal with while using public transportation, such as running late, sick people, panhandlers and usually some really bad human caused smells.

I am not seeing that $9200 cost either!

My pickups a pig on fuel but burns propane. So the 20K miles I drove it last year at around 8+ MPG( low side estimate) equals 2500 gallons. At an average of around $1.50 (including road tax) thats $3750. I pay about $95 per month for full coverage insurance so that adds another $1140. Which brings me to $4890. Toss in a generous $500 for general maintenance and thats $5390 total per year on a very generous curve.

Realistically I could have run two of my pickups for that $9200 number they are claiming.