RTD Light Rail Monthly Pass -- Any way to get it cheaper? (Denver: 2015, apartment complex)

[JakeEvan]

I just moved to Denver and am about to sign a lease an apartment complex right next to the light rail's Alameda Station, which will get me to the DTC where I work in 24 minutes. Even though the light rail is convenient and I can relax and read on it during my commute, it is expensive -- $140 for the monthly pass, since I have to buy the "express" version to get me from zone A to zone C. That price makes me facepalm, since I have a car here that I already make monthly payments on, and since the driving distance to work is only 12.6 miles (16 minutes without traffic). I would just drive if I could, but during work hours, the commute can be up to 45 minutes even when there are no accidents, so in the end, the light rail is the much better option. I still just can't get over the cost though since it feels like I'm straight up wasting money paying for both a car and a light rail pass.

Here's my question as you may have guessed from the thread title -- is there any way to get the pass cheaper? I checked, and even though my employer is a big company, they don't sponsor the EcoPass or otherwise help pay for Light Rail passes. I'm hoping I can advocate for it in the future, since I know other employees of the company do take the light rail. I also did the math on just buying 10-ticket books instead at $36 a piece, and not surprisingly, the monthly pass is cheaper. Thanks for any suggestions.

[flyonpa]

I would use the IRS rate of medical or moving (23c in 2015) per mile for your driving calculations.

The 45 x2 minutes of "free" time you gain each way can be usefully, That has a value.

Check with HR and see if they have a transportation flex spending account, you can pay for your rail ticket with pre-tax dollars.

Monthly vs 10 ticket, How often do you go to work?

Vacation Days, Floating/personal holidays, Holidays, Sick Days. Biz trips, Days you will drive to work anyway, due to thing after, Work @ home/telecommuting ..
All reduce the value of the monthly Pass, So the 10trip pass might be better.

[JakeEvan]

My company is on a 9-80 schedule meaning you work 9 days in two weeks, instead of 10. So in a month, there's about 22/23 work days, and I get 2-3 of them off, so 20 days. That's 40 trips, so $36x4 = $144, where monthly is $140. Since I'm just starting out, I really won't be taking many sick days or days off outside of holidays, maybe 1 per 2 months.

I'll check with HR like you said about transportation flex spending. Thanks for the suggestions.

[flyonpa]

Honesty it sound like the 40 trip pass would work out cheaper most of the time.

is your new apt part of the RTD system? Might be a discount there also.

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by JakeEvan

My company is on a 9-80 schedule meaning you work 9 days in two weeks, instead of 10. So in a month, there's about 22/23 work days, and I get 2-3 of them off, so 20 days. That's 40 trips, so $36x4 = $144, where monthly is $140. Since I'm just starting out, I really won't be taking many sick days or days off outside of holidays, maybe 1 per 2 months.

I'll check with HR like you said about transportation flex spending. Thanks for the suggestions.

Bad news for you. It's going to cost you $171 next year, instead of $140.

RTD FINAL FARE CHANGES

I think you should drive. It should be faster and cheaper.

[davidv]

One more thing:

How often will you take light rail when you want to go downtown to a bar, club, restaurant, ballgame, etc? Figure that into your costs too. A lot of young people do things downtown, and paying for parking when you get downtown on your pass could be the tipping point for choosing light rail.

Do an experiment. Buy a couple of 10 pass books and use the light rail to go to work and whenever else it is convenient. If you start on a Monday and use up all your rides before Friday of the following week, the monthly pass is probably worth it. If you go that route, call your insurance agent after a month and let him or her know that you aren't using the car to commute and tell him how many miles you've put on your car in a month and chances are he'll lower your rate.

[AmFest]

I find it odd that not very many companies in Denver have a public transportation deal with the city. The company I worked for in Seattle had an annual pass for each employee, and the pass cost less than $100. Yes, for the entire year. It includes light rail trips to the airport as well.

[alloo66]

Originally Posted by AmFest

I find it odd that not very many companies in Denver have a public transportation deal with the city. The company I worked for in Seattle had an annual pass for each employee, and the pass cost less than $100. Yes, for the entire year. It includes light rail trips to the airport as well.

I'm surprised that companies don't have shuttles from the station to worksites. Oh well, maybe Denver's air isn't dirty enough yet.

[TigerLily24]

Originally Posted by JakeEvan

My company is on a 9-80 schedule meaning you work 9 days in two weeks, instead of 10. So in a month, there's about 22/23 work days, and I get 2-3 of them off, so 20 days. That's 40 trips, so $36x4 = $144, where monthly is $140. Since I'm just starting out, I really won't be taking many sick days or days off outside of holidays, maybe 1 per 2 months.

I'll check with HR like you said about transportation flex spending. Thanks for the suggestions.

If you use light rail for pleasure in addition to work, the monthly pass will end up being the better buy.

If you only use light rail for work, while it ends up being $4.00 more per month for the ten trip ticket, the bigger advantage is that the tickets don't expire at the end of each month.
Depending on how many trips you actually do, you could come out a bit ahead after a few months.

[cowboyxjon]

Originally Posted by AmFest

I find it odd that not very many companies in Denver have a public transportation deal with the city. The company I worked for in Seattle had an annual pass for each employee, and the pass cost less than $100. Yes, for the entire year. It includes light rail trips to the airport as well.

I think location of the office may have something to do with it; I've worked for two employers in Denver within the last ~9 years and both of them offered subsidized EcoPasses, but both were also downtown and in both cases, nearly 80% of my co-workers used the benefit.

DTC is probably a little difference since it's easier to drive and park.