My new job is at a different location, and the building is downtown. I'm trying to decide what to do about commuting/parking. It's 6.5 miles from my house - the easiest bus route is 40-45 minutes and a bus pass would cost about $75 pre-tax (we have a program). Or I can drive which would take 15 minutes, parking would be $150ish a month and gas would be negligible. Is it worth an hour of my time each day to save $75? That works out to saving about $4/day. Thoughts?
ETA - Actually it may only cost $25 a month for the pass because I can get some reimbursement. So that would be saving $125/month. Ugh.
Post by jmccleary12 on Oct 17, 2012 16:47:02 GMT -5
Assuming that you are not flat broke and in serious debt, I would pay for the convenience. Hell, even if I were flat broke and in debt, I might still pay for the convenience. That's a lot of time.
Post by mollybrown on Oct 17, 2012 16:56:08 GMT -5
No. Mainly because I have children and want to get to them quickly if something happens.
Is that a direct bus line, or do you have connections? I wouldn't even consider it if you have to take more than one bus. Also, how often does the bus(es) run. You have to add an extra 5 minutes to an hour to the actual travel time if you miss the bus. Some routes here do not run often.
And, waiting outside for a bus in the dead of winter sounds miserable. It would be different if we had a subway system.
I am assuming your salary comes out to more than $4 per hour. I would rather pay for parking and spend that hour doing more productive activities or resting.
Post by iheartbanjos on Oct 17, 2012 17:51:43 GMT -5
Team Drive. Semi-serious question: what about getting a scooter (the small ones that you can legally park in a bike rack) and do that? You could pay for it in one year of not paying for parking. There are only a handful of days here that I wouldn't be willing to do a short commute via scooter.
Is there a pre-tax parking benefit by the way? Some companies offer that too...
There is, so it's paid pre-tax. And I do like the option of the bus for being able to read each day, but it's just so much extra time. Our city's public transportation sucks. I will look at a scooter, that's a good idea. But does parking differ for one?