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The most miserable times to ride a bus in Tucson are the 100+ degree days as there are few good bus shelters. The only worse time is when the monsoon rains start while you are waiting for the bus.
I still ride the bus as it is the most economical means to travel.
No, not really very practical here, like we aren't allowed to have a bunch of grocery bags on the bus or ride when all sandy and wet from the beach but we do use the bus to get back and forth from the airport when we travel if we have only carry-on luggage.
We would use the bus more if we could though (we even have a cool double-decker here). Especially at the beach, hate going out in the water leaving our vehicle in the parking lot - sooo easy for potential thieves to see you won't be back for awhile.
Even in my small town, it costs $5 for two people to ride the bus round trip. If you already own a car, you can go anywhere in town and back on a half a gallon of gas, which now costs 85c. And still needing to carry your groceries home from the bus stop.
Riding the bus to sasve money requires a commitment to not owning a car at all.
Even in my small town, it costs $5 for two people to ride the bus round trip. If you already own a car, you can go anywhere in town and back on a half a gallon of gas, which now costs 85c.
Riding the bus to sasve money requires a commitment to not owning a car at all.
The federal reimbursement rate is 57.5 cents a mile. So your break even point is 8.6 miles round trip. Gas isn't the only consideration since the miles put on wear and tear and get you to having to buy a new car faster.
The federal reimbursement rate is 57.5 cents a mile. So your break even point is 8.6 miles round trip. Gas isn't the only consideration since the miles put on wear and tear and get you to having to buy a new car faster.
And exactly how do I get the federal government to reimburse me 57.5c a mile for using or not using my car? The average new car nowadays will last, with reasonable care, at least 150K miles with no major repairs. In the real world, a practical car costs a lot less than $86,250 to buy, finance, maintain, insure, license and fuel, and then trade in..
I do not consider the federal government a reliable indicator of the realistic cost or value of anything. Is that the same cash-for-clunkers government that bought a million perfectly serviceable and reliable cars and put them in a crusher?
I think the 57.5c is a fair average value; the federal government wouldn't have any incentive to make it higher than it actually is since it would reduce revenue. You're right that your car might get better mileage than average or need less maintenance than average, though. My point was just that you need to consider the whole cost, not just gas. It's easy to "10 minute trip" yourself into buying another car a year earlier than you would other wise.
I think the 57.5c is a fair average value; the federal government wouldn't have any incentive to make it higher than it actually is since it would reduce revenue. You're right that your car might get better mileage than average or need less maintenance than average, though. My point was just that you need to consider the whole cost, not just gas. It's easy to "10 minute trip" yourself into buying another car a year earlier than you would other wise.
If gas prices continue at the current levels, I could easily see the rate going to as low as $0.45/ miles since fuel cost is a major component of the rate.
My point was just that you need to consider the whole cost, not just gas. It's easy to "10 minute trip" yourself into buying another car a year earlier than you would other wise.
The gas is by far the largest part of it. The average car is driven 12,000 miles a year, so at 24 mpg, that's 500 gallons, which no doubt will be back up to $4 a gallon within the time frame of this general discussion, so that's $2,000. A $400 set of tires should last 36,000, so that and two oil changs comes to only about $200 a year, a tiny fraction (just 10%) of the gas. Insurance, license, etc., are the same no matter how much you drive it, and any repairs besides gas, oil and tires is covered by warranty for at least 5 years.
A ten mile trip every day adds only 36,000 miles in ten years, and in the tenth year, a car probably doesn't even depreciate a thousand dollars. Which is only $100 a year in lost value if you trade after nine years instead of ten.
The federal reimbursement rate is 57.5 cents a mile. So your break even point is 8.6 miles round trip. Gas isn't the only consideration since the miles put on wear and tear and get you to having to buy a new car faster.
Agreed that it costs more than gas to run a car. But I differ on how to think about a break even point. You are using the federal reimbursement rate (correctly) as representing the TOTAL cost of owning and driving a car. However once the decision to purchase a car is made, there are certain fixed costs which remain more or less independent of how much you drive. Even if the car sits in the garage and is never driven, we still have:
1. depreciation
2. registration fees
3. insurance
4. cost of annual or bi-annual inspections (if the state of residence requires)
The actual marginal costs of making a given trip are:
1. gas
2. maintenance and repair (tires, oil changes, other repairs)
3. cost of parking at destination, if any
Therefore, I believe the federal rate is too high to use for calculating break even points.
Good points jtur and Escort Rider. The important part is just that you keep the costs in mind and don't treat gas as some inescapable bill you have, but then still use it as though it were free because it's already in the tank (I know a lot of people who are guilty of this, myself included at times).
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