My Toll Road
Living where I do, I have to take the Dulles Toll Road commuting each day, 50 cents getting on and 75 cents getting off, for a one-way total of $1.25. I drive about 3 1/2 miles to get to Route 28, then take 28 to the toll road. On most days.
Twice this week I’ve been late enough leaving my apartment to have to take the Dulles Greenway which turns into the toll road. Before I moved out to Ashburn, I had no idea what the Greenway was, or how it was different from the toll road; I quickly learned. The Dulles Greenway is a privately-owned toll road, where a one-way trip costs $4.25, so I avoid it whenever possible, even though it is much faster. If I leave at 6:45am, I’ll only save about eight minutes by taking the 65mph Greenway; if I leave at 6:55, I generally save about 15 minutes, which is the difference between being late and not.
I noticed, though, that I got much better gas mileage this week. Normally I average between 17-19 mpg commuting, and have gotten as good as 22 mpg highway (I know it’s horrible and I’d do better without an SUV, but I HATE driving small cars). By the time I get gas this afternoon, I’ll have driven about 280 miles instead of about 225 (my gas tank is rather small; I usually don’t fill up past 14 gallons). I think that this is due in large part to my two Greenway excursions (totalling an extra $6), and one afternoon that I met up with a friend for a few hours and drove home without any traffic.
Anyway, I just saved about 3 gallons of gas at $3.59/gallon near my apartment. So, I’ve saved about $5. This wouldn’t work every week; in no way do I think that if I took the Greenway five mornings a week, I’d save five gallons of gas. Maybe I could save about 3 gallons. So if gas really skyrockets, it might become cost-effective, after all.
