05/01/2007 - THE PUBLIC TRANSIT RIPOFF
All you seem to hear about today are the benefits of public transit - and how we (Seattle) needs to build more rail lines and greatly expand public transit. On our side of the water, Dick Hayes, head of Kitsap Transit, is very aggressive in increasing ridership and trying to wrangle funds from the state of Washington. I don't blame him for that - he has a family to feed. But I blame the entire system, which, to me at least, is looking more and more like a cottage industry providing jobs and line items on the budget, but no real savings to the end users.
Let's look at my commute without using public transportation and my new commute that does use public transportation. As you'll see, I was much better off before jumping on the public transit bandwagon:
To get to work, I drive 34 miles a day, round trip, in a truck that gets 15 mpg. At a very conservative $3 per gallon, I spend $135.99 a month to get to and from work. I have a rider with me who pitches in $20 a month, so that lowers my cost to $115.99 a month. But let's not even consider that. Let's just assume that I'm a single driver, paying $135.99 a month in gas to get to work.
So now, I take public transit. Of course, there is no bus anywhere near my house, as is true with many rural folks. So to get to the water ferry to take me to work, I still have to drive 22 miles a day, without a rider. At the mpg and gas prices used above, that's $87.90 in gas. But, of course, I have to pay to park there, yet another cottage industry that's making someone wealthy on that backs of those who are trying to save the environment - or at least a few dollars in spare change. That's another $60 per month. Then, add the cost of the ferry, another $32 per month. Now we are up to $179.99 in expenses, vs. the $135.99 I was paying before. Fortunately, my company is very gracious and they reimburse me the cost of the ferry pass. So we subtract $32 and end up back at $148.40. That's still more than I was paying before.
And there are issues of time-loss and productivity. It takes more time to get to work and to get home using public transportation. And another part of this that is so often overlooked: public transit is HEAVILY subsidized. You and I are already paying for it, whether we use it or not.
Critics will say: "Yes, but you're not factoring in wear and tear on your vehicle." True. Even though driving only 12 miles a day less, let's factor that in and just call it a wash.
What is is saving? Yes, there may be some positive effects on the environment if enough people do it, but it's going to take a lot more people doing it than are doing it now. And with the economics I've shown here, it's going to be a hard sell for those who don't happen to live right on a bus route and for those who have the time to waste sitting on a bench waiting for the bus.
I'll try this for a while, but I'm not a believer in it. Especially since now I get to sit beside people with oozing sores, running noses and generally bad hygiene.
Oh joy.