My Transit Opportunities
This morning was not the first that I saw a Loudoun County Transit bus on my way to work, but it was the first that led me to actually looking it up online and then looking up Metro fares and things to determine if it would be more cost effective for me to bus/Metro/bus into work than to drive. Here’s what I figured out:
First, I have averaged my gas+tolls expenses per week to be $107.50. This includes commuting five days a week, one trip to my best friend’s place, and one trip either to my parents’ house or my boyfriend’s. Also about ten miles leeway for shopping, if necessary.
Round-trip Loudoun bus will be $4/day.
West Falls Church Metro to Pentagon will be $6/day.
Bus from Pentagon to my work is FREE!
Weekly gas ($40)+tolls($5)
Hypothetical Weekly total: $95
Weekly difference: $12.50
Now, $12.50/week or $50/month would be nice. But I’ve heard that you should take your payrate per hour and compare the money you’re saving versus the time that you’re losing.
I’m estimating that I will add two hours a day to my commute in this scenario, based on scheduled times, average wait times, and the times I arrive at and leave work in the morning. Dividing $12.50 by ten hours a week comes out to $1.25/an hour. Since I make (before taxes and all) over $20/hour, I have to determine that this isn’t worth it for me.
Back to the drawing board.
