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Old 05-28-2014, 12:50 PM
 
787 posts, read 780,407 times
Reputation: 800

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Parsec View Post
If cost is an issue for you, then you need to accurately calculate the cost of driving vs taking the train. Gas only accounts for approximately 25% of the cost of driving a car. The IRS rate is 56 cents per mile which takes into account things like maintenance and depreciation for the average vehicle. Small compact cars are less expensive to drive and pickup trucks are more expensive. It's a time vs. money issue. Personally I prefer to take the train in during the week and drive on the weekends.
You're right.

I drive less than 10,000 miles a year so I believe my $/mile was around $0.46 last year.

If I took the train from Riverside:

Cost of driving to & from Riverside: 43.6 miles roundtrip * $0.46/mile = $20.05.
Tolls driving to & from: $1.40.
Parking at Riverside: $6.00.
Roundtrip from Riverside to Park Street Station: $4.00.
Roundtrip from Park Street Station to Charles/MGH Station: $2.00 (not sure of the cost here).

Walk four tenths of a mile to the field.

$33.45, 1 hour 20 minutes.

If I drove in:

Cost of driving to and from the bar that sponsors the league: 66.6 miles roundtrip * $0.46/mile = $30.63.
Tolls driving to and from: $6.20.
Parking in Boston on a weekend day: $15? $25?

$51.83? $61.83? 43 minutes driving plus the time it takes me to find parking.

Riverside seems to win out.
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Old 05-28-2014, 01:11 PM
 
Location: 42°22'55.2"N 71°24'46.8"W
4,848 posts, read 11,808,135 times
Reputation: 2962
Quote:
Originally Posted by Louisville Slugger View Post
Yes, I was planning on getting a Charliecard.

When you say per trip that means when I get on the green line at Riverside and get off at Park St $2.00 will be deducted from my Charliecard, correct?

The games will be weekly from June 21 to August 23 (no games on July 5). There's two additional weeks of playoffs and the game start times are 12 PM, 1 PM, and 2 PM. I'll find out what time my games are on June 19 when everyone meets at the bar that sponsors the league to make the teams.

How is the Pike on Saturdays? It shouldn't be that hard to get to Riverside on the weekend, right? How's the parking situation? 925 parking spaces according the the website. I should be able to find a parking spot on a Saturday morning?

I'll be on the Red Line for 1 stop. How much does that cost? Alewife to Charles/MGH Station.
Right, $2 for the trip no matter where you start or end. You pay $2 to get past the turnstile/gate. Once you're in the subway system you could ride it all day long and transfer from green line to red line to orange line to blue line for free, as long as you don't exit the gates.

Riverside never runs out of parking on weekends, except when the Red Sox win the world series and everyone's going into Boston for the parade. But even the Pike is bumper to bumper from Southboro to Boston on the morning of the parade.
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Old 05-28-2014, 02:27 PM
 
Location: Central Mass
4,621 posts, read 4,889,959 times
Reputation: 5354
Quote:
Originally Posted by Parsec View Post
Riverside never runs out of parking on weekends
I've never seen Riverside fill on a weekday either. Does it?

The lot's huge, when ever I end up there, it's always 2/3rds empty.

Quote:
Cost of driving to & from Riverside: 43.6 miles roundtrip * $0.46/mile = $20.05.
Tolls driving to & from: $1.40.
Parking at Riverside: $6.00.
Roundtrip from Riverside to Park Street Station: $4.00.
Roundtrip from Park Street Station to Charles/MGH Station: $2.00 (not sure of the cost here).

Walk four tenths of a mile to the field.

$33.45, 1 hour 20 minutes.
No cost for the red line. $4 will get you from Riverside to MGH and back to Riverside, unless you exit the station for no good reason
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Old 05-28-2014, 02:49 PM
 
787 posts, read 780,407 times
Reputation: 800
Quote:
Originally Posted by scorpio516 View Post
I've never seen Riverside fill on a weekday either. Does it?

The lot's huge, when ever I end up there, it's always 2/3rds empty.



No cost for the red line. $4 will get you from Riverside to MGH and back to Riverside, unless you exit the station for no good reason
Sweet.
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Old 05-28-2014, 03:47 PM
 
787 posts, read 780,407 times
Reputation: 800
I drove more than 10,000 miles in 2013 but here's the costs:

Quote:
Oil Changes: $76.95
Insurance: $710.00
Excise Tax: $42.75
Fuel: $1,123.83
Inspection: $29.00
Maintenance: $899.39
AAA Membership Renewal: $28.00
License Renewal: $50.00
Depreciation: $1,147.35

Total: $4,107.27
In 2013 I drove 10,886.3 miles.

$4,107.27/10,886.3 miles = $0.38/mile.

A little better than I thought.
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Old 05-28-2014, 03:49 PM
 
787 posts, read 780,407 times
Reputation: 800
If I took the train from Riverside:

Cost of driving to & from Riverside: 43.6 miles roundtrip * $0.38/mile = $16.57.
Tolls driving to & from: $1.40.
Parking at Riverside: $6.00.
Roundtrip from Riverside to Park Street Station: $4.00.
Roundtrip from Park Street Station to Charles/MGH Station: $0.00.

Walk four tenths of a mile to the field.

$27.97, 1 hour 20 minutes.

If I drove in:

Cost of driving to and from the bar that sponsors the league: 66.6 miles roundtrip * $0.38/mile = $25.31.
Tolls driving to and from: $6.20.
Parking in Boston on a weekend day: $15? $25?

$46.51? $56.51? 43 minutes driving plus the time it takes me to find parking.
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Old 06-24-2014, 08:30 AM
 
787 posts, read 780,407 times
Reputation: 800
I decided to try driving in for the first game last Saturday.

There was no traffic on a Saturday afternoon. It took me a little over 30 minutes to drive in. I parked at the CambridgeSide Galleria then walked to the field.

It was $4 to park there.

I am sure the train would have been much longer.

I had a blast! So many awesome people! I went 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs.
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Old 06-24-2014, 08:50 AM
 
Location: 42°22'55.2"N 71°24'46.8"W
4,848 posts, read 11,808,135 times
Reputation: 2962
Glad to hear you had fun. CambridgeSide parking garage is great because the hourly rates are actually pretty reasonable, which is rare around here. I park there when I go to the MOS. Usually 2 hours already equals the full day rate at most other garages.
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Old 06-24-2014, 09:24 AM
 
787 posts, read 780,407 times
Reputation: 800
Quote:
Originally Posted by Parsec View Post
Glad to hear you had fun. CambridgeSide parking garage is great because the hourly rates are actually pretty reasonable, which is rare around here. I park there when I go to the MOS. Usually 2 hours already equals the full day rate at most other garages.
Yeah! The Museum of Science garage would have been easily $15 or more. My car was in the garage for over 5 hours at Cambridgeside

I felt a little pain in my legs the next day. Well because I am use to sitting at a desk a lot during the week.

I need to get in better shape. The softballs we used were 14" We were suppose to use 16" ones, but they changed the size a few weeks before the first game. Luckily my glove was pretty worn in so I could grip the ball well.

No one had heard of the town I came from. People were surprised I commuted as far as I did. Oh well.

It's a compromise I made since I wanted my own place, no roommates, and proximity to work. The city doesn't disappear because I choose to live outside it.
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Old 06-24-2014, 02:33 PM
 
Location: 42°22'55.2"N 71°24'46.8"W
4,848 posts, read 11,808,135 times
Reputation: 2962
Quote:
Originally Posted by Louisville Slugger View Post

No one had heard of the town I came from. People were surprised I commuted as far as I did. Oh well.

It's a compromise I made since I wanted my own place, no roommates, and proximity to work. The city doesn't disappear because I choose to live outside it.
Yeah, most 20-somethings from Boston (outside of C-D) have never heard of any towns outside 128 except for maybe Worcester or Salem. They can't fathom how anyone can live outside I-495, let alone I-95. A guy I used to play softball with in Boston actually came out from past 190/146 which is partial beltway even further out than 495.
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