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car payment: 205/month
gas: 80/month
insurance: 60/month
gas would be 40 if i'd only drive where i had to and wouldn't drive around just to blow off stress and such, but driving is one of my relaxers, so i drive a lot just to chill.
here in Mandan, ND we don't really have an option though. There aren't taxi's driving around waiting for you to hop in them, and the bus system only makes it's rounds once per hour, and then it only goes to south Bismarck, I work in north Bismarck so the bus isn't an option. Also, there are a many places people have to get to that the bus doesn't go, and those places have parking lots, so people take advantage of them, and in ND less that 1% of parking spaces have meters, so taking my own car right where I need/want to go with free parking? I'll take it!
Consider a common suburban scenario....the middle-income guy driving his new, climate-controlled Camry/Accord from his new, tract house in suburban Dallas to his office, also in distant suburban Dallas, prob arrives at office non-sweaty; not accosted by homeless; fairly low risk of being mugged/assaulted during commute; no exposure to lack of personal hygiene of fellow passengers; smell of urine, etc as one enters a subway station....and risks of dangerous/inept driving when forced to be a passenger in cabs....
The guy who drives self via own car prob spends a few extra bucks/mth for transportation, but suspect most would prefer no other form of daily transportation....
Most choose mass transit simply b/c they can't afford safer/more comfortable/convenient alternatives...much like most would rather fly via a large, new private plane, rather than commercial airlines....pesky issue of a few extra bucks....
haha you're silly. I have always felt more endangered on the expressway with morons flying past me at 90 mph than on the bus reading a book. I've been riding transit for a year and guess what? most of the people on transit commuting in the mornings -- are just trying to get to work like you! they're in suits, and reading books, or working on their computers or communicating on their blackberries! and they're not swerving along on the road to do it either!
Car payment = $0
Gas = $40 about every week and a half
Insurance = $96/month
I drive a 2000 Honda Civic EX. Probably spending too much on insurance, but oh well. It's killing me to dish out $40 for a tank of gas (11.99 gallon tank) since it used to be as low as $12 when I bought the car brand new back in 2000.
Consider a common suburban scenario....the middle-income guy driving his new, climate-controlled Camry/Accord from his new, tract house in suburban Dallas to his office, also in distant suburban Dallas, prob arrives at office non-sweaty; not accosted by homeless; fairly low risk of being mugged/assaulted during commute; no exposure to lack of personal hygiene of fellow passengers; smell of urine, etc as one enters a subway station....and risks of dangerous/inept driving when forced to be a passenger in cabs....
The guy who drives self via own car prob spends a few extra bucks/mth for transportation, but suspect most would prefer no other form of daily transportation....
Most choose mass transit simply b/c they can't afford safer/more comfortable/convenient alternatives...much like most would rather fly via a large, new private plane, rather than commercial airlines....pesky issue of a few extra bucks....
Yikes, I hope this is sarcasm!?!? I spent an average of $1.63 a day on transit. I ride in a new climate controlled express bus which comes ever 3 minutes, and gets me from the north side to downtown in as long as it would take me to drive, and not have to find parking. I've certainly never smelled urine on the way to work, and there is rationally a 0% chance of me getting mugged on a bus full of middle-upper income residents who are going to their office jobs downtown. I've never arrived sweaty (I'm not sure why anyone would be, we're not running next to the bus/train), and I take the 20 minute total trip to read the newspaper or catch a quick nap, gaze out the window, or spend 20 minutes staring at hot people on the bus. God, there are a lot of them too, haha.
I feel much safer than if I were in a car on the expressway. The train is just as nice. The brown line I also can take to work is faster than the bus, and is full of professional 20 somethings who also make excellent eye candy, and I can easily just read a book or listen to music.
Such a warped vision of public transit.....no wonder this country is light years away from the rest of the world in that sense.
Yikes, I hope this is sarcasm!?!? I spent an average of $1.63 a day on transit. I ride in a new climate controlled express bus which comes ever 3 minutes, and gets me from the north side to downtown in as long as it would take me to drive, and not have to find parking. I've certainly never smelled urine on the way to work, and there is rationally a 0% chance of me getting mugged on a bus full of middle-upper income residents who are going to their office jobs downtown. I've never arrived sweaty (I'm not sure why anyone would be, we're not running next to the bus/train), and I take the 20 minute total trip to read the newspaper or catch a quick nap, gaze out the window, or spend 20 minutes staring at hot people on the bus. God, there are a lot of them too, haha.
I feel much safer than if I were in a car on the expressway. The train is just as nice. The brown line I also can take to work is faster than the bus, and is full of professional 20 somethings who also make excellent eye candy, and I can easily just read a book or listen to music.
Such a warped vision of public transit.....no wonder this country is light years away from the rest of the world in that sense.
you do have to admit, though, it's pretty easy to go flying on those buses going down LSD... at least they're resurfacing the road in uptown now.
i just think of it as a cheap roller coaster, though.
Consider a common suburban scenario....the middle-income guy driving his new, climate-controlled Camry/Accord from his new, tract house in suburban Dallas to his office, also in distant suburban Dallas, prob arrives at office non-sweaty; not accosted by homeless; fairly low risk of being mugged/assaulted during commute; no exposure to lack of personal hygiene of fellow passengers; smell of urine, etc as one enters a subway station....and risks of dangerous/inept driving when forced to be a passenger in cabs....
The guy who drives self via own car prob spends a few extra bucks/mth for transportation, but suspect most would prefer no other form of daily transportation....
Most choose mass transit simply b/c they can't afford safer/more comfortable/convenient alternatives...much like most would rather fly via a large, new private plane, rather than commercial airlines....pesky issue of a few extra bucks....
Wow, hsw. Ever ride public transportation, or are you just relying on urban myths perpetuated by the terminally timid? I ride daily with lots of other people and none of us get mugged or accosted by homeless to my knowledge. Sure, there are homeless downtown when you get off the bus, but if you don't want to give them anything, just say so, they'll move on. My ride is air conditioned, and I can relax with my MP3 or read a book or talk to co-workers and friends when I see them, or just close my eyes and chill. We have 2 cars, but prefer transit for commuting.
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