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June 08, 2008
The price of getting where you need to be
The New York Times reports:
I was a little shocked, after reading this, to do the math and realize that more than 7 percent of my take-home pay is going to gasoline, though I get around half of that back each month through work-specific mileage reimbursements. A car is a mandatory on-the-job accessory in my career, but maybe not when I'm off the clock.
So when does it make sense for me to leave my car at the office and find another way to get to and from the job?
At current fuel prices I'm paying $12.50 each week for gasoline to get to and from work - that doesn't include gas to run errands or for work-related travel. Add 6 cents per mile for maintenance and oil changes (AAA's estimated cost of driving a small sedan), and it's actually costing me about $16.15 per week to drive to work.
A Tri-Met annual bus pass costs $836, or about $16.08 per week. It would be cheaper now for me to stop driving. The trip would take 45 minutes to an hour each way, instead of the 20 to 25 minutes I'm now behind the wheel, so in a best-case scenario I'd lose 40 minutes out of every day. But I could spend that time reading or on the phone or sleeping, which I can't do now.
I couldn't leave the car at work all the time. Ben needs it to get to band at least once a week, and other times we both want to travel beyond the easy reach of Portland's public transit system. I'm not ready yet to leave the car so far from home.
But at $5 a gallon? I'd have to think about it. Maybe it's even worth a test run soon.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at June 8, 2008 09:52 PM