Would You Pay $90 to fill your Prius?

I started commuting by bicycle last year. 60 miles roundtrip. It's doable and keeps me in shape. And it's a beautiful sight seeing the sunrise over Lake Michigan when I'm riding into work.

 

cant say how much i admire you. i wish i had it in me to do the same...i whine about the weather being bad here but its nothing compared to what you put up with... my ride would be barely 14 miles RT...

 

I think I'm a good case study for this question...

I live in Boston and both my apartment and my place of work/play are located directly on the T line. It is ~7 miles for this round-trip.

At ~50 mpg and ~$4.00/gallon gas right now it costs me $0.56 each day to make the commute in my Prius. If I instead purchased a monthly T pass for $59, I would have to make this round-trip more than 105 times each month for it to be cheaper than driving.

At $9.00/gallon, I would have to make the round-trip 47 times make the T pass worthwhile.

This is the first time I sat down to do the math, and frankly it surprises me that taking public transportation is such a bad deal - even if you're driving a big SUV at the current price of gas. If you're going to have the car anyway (and many of us do because we often like to go where the T does not) then we should just drive all of the time.

Convenience runs in favor of the car too, as long as you know where you can park. I should also mention that driving is almost always faster in Boston because our trains don't run on any kind of schedule. You may end up standing there for 20 minutes, going nowhere, just waiting to get on a train.

Of course, riding a bike is an option but I agree with others who have pointed out how dangerous that can be. I would not feel safe at all on a bike in this city. And in the winter the bike becomes completely infeasible for all but the most insane riders.

Tim

 

I'd pay $90 to fill my Prius. I'd have to! But when it comes to that, I'll be looking at installing a solar panel and more batteries on it so that $90 lasts a lot longer. And I might look into riding a motorcycle on nice days, if I can find one a short chick can ride.

In the past week or so we've been seeing lots of big SUVs parked in front of people's houses, with "For Sale" signs on them. Used car lots are full of SUV trade-ins, and you can't find a Prius for sale to save your life. Glad I got mine when I did. And gas is barely $4/gallon here in PA.

Guys on scooters are starting to pop up on the main roads. Scooters are in sharp demand now, too. At 98 mpg, they're a tempting alternative for short trips.

I've noticed, too, that strangers come up to me and ask me how I like my Prius, and what kind of mileage it gets. On record, 45 mpg in winter, 52 mpg in summer, highest mpg 65, on a flat highway with a good tailwind.

 

cmon man!! you cant be serious... how much are your bus payments (oh that right... you dont make bus payments... or are they part of the ticket price?) insurance??.

think about the REAL cost...im glad you got a Prius...at least you are thinking about it, but its nowhere near cheaper to drive your own car, never has been. it convenience is why we do it. if its more convenient to take public transportation, do it...

 

That math definitley wouldn't work for me .. I have a Prius - and I take the bus! ... my $66 bus pass is cheaper than paying for Gas, Parking, and Higher Insurance (my car is for pleasure use only .. so lower insurance). Parking alone is more than the cost of a bus pass around here!

 

You missed a key statement in my analysis...

If you're going to have the car anyway (and many of us do because we often like to go where the T does not) then we should just drive all of the time.

I don't have a car for the purpose of commuting 3 miles to where I work.

I have a car because I need one to go outside the city, or to go to my home out-of-state, or to a slew of other destinations to which the T doesn't run.

So I'm going to own a car and pay for insurance no matter how I choose to get to work.

That means that my choices for going to work are (1) pay for a $59 monthly MBTA pass or (2) drive the car to work for $0.08 per mile (I park for free both at my apartment and where I work).

I challenge you to show me the math that proves that buying a T pass is cheaper. If you can save me money I'd really appreciate it.

Tim

 

I don't do it for just the pure fun I race bicycles as a hobby and commuting by bicycle gives me excellent training time. I do ask my wife for a ride to work on occasions

 

i see your logic. now look at mine. you still only take into acct the cost of gas. that is a mistake. you still have wear and tear on your Pri. short trips which are not good. heavy stop and go (im guessing here) traffic means greater wear on brakes, etc...

look at it over a year. bus pass $700 verses the wear and tear of a daily commute... no matter the distance. unless you are talking significantly more mileage... im not sure there is much of a difference between a daily 6 mile commute verses a 20 mile commute. the additional risk of an accident every time you hit the street...

like i said, i see your point... its obvious... but i still dont agree that its the best course of action if the transit is nearly as convenient.

 

You also must factor in the depreciation of the car. Rack up the miles, and when you sell, it will be worth less.

 

How would one compute the costs of maintenance and depreciation?

Since my car is new, I haven't paid anything yet for maintenance. And in the last two months my car's value has actually with appreciated with the rising gas prices as far as I can tell.

So I guess the question is how do I figure a value for these things to see if it really is cheaper than taking the T or not?

Tim

 

Here's what I'm using. Crude but it works for the specific information I want, $/mile. Sorry for the zip, guess you can't upload xls.

 

Boo hoo to the Brits.

My cousin just outside of Amsterdam e-mailed today to tell me that folks in the Netherlands are paying the equivalent of $11.50 a gallon.

 

We will pay whatever we have to, to get to work, to shop. Fortuneately we are in the midst of a enormous revolution occuring in electronics, transportation, and medical discoveries. Do we have the cool to sit back and observe and enjoy without panic ensuing. High gasoline prices cause changes, that's good. Truckers in Spain are striking because of high prices, that's good. One Hundred Truckers a week are going out of business in the US. That's bad for the truckdrivers, but good for change. We will change...Radically!

 

The problem with the public transportation idea is this I live in Indianapolis I live 11 miles from my work but the closest bus station that goes with in 2 miles (so not do able really) is 7.5 miles away and then I would still have to walk the 2 miles to get to my building!!So a car is the only option !!!

 

I'd rather fill the prius up at that price than any other car that's for sure

 

People never talk about bikes...11 miles is very bikeable. 4 miles is extremely bikeable. Will probably only add 30 minutes to your commute.

 

30 miles on way is possible too. I've done it many times and still do it. Takes about 2 hours to cycle one way if you are in decent shape.

EDIT: Oops.. just noticed I mentioned using my bicycle already on page 5 of this thread.

 

You will pay $90 to fill your Prius , it's just a matter of how far into the future that time is. Weeks ? Months or Years.

Might be cheaper to drive the prius rather then Motorhome on holiday and book a five star hotel when you get there. There's big change comming down the line .... be prepared, even if oil falls back in the short term.

 

The dakota Quad cab I sold to get the Prius would cost me a sweet $199 to fill up....and with the 13 miles per gallon I was getting...........