For those that take public transportation on a regular basis (how much, pharmacy)

[mamainfl]

and your company does NOT subsidize your ridership, how much do you spend on a weekly (or monthly basis)?Do you take public transportation each day to work, or only sometimes? Do you take it to run errands?

I am just trying to put together a budget. We haven't used public transportation since the early 90's in Atlanta! My memory for numbers is awful. (Plus that is a long time ago, huh?) We will most likely have one car, so will not depend solely on public transportation.

[CrazyDonkey]

Depends on what your average fare profile would be (peak/nonpeak, zones/counties, Metro/ST, adult/youth, etc.). ORCA has an initial cost of $5/card. You can add to your ORCA card:

1) PugetPass regional pass (good on all regional transit systems) $81/$2.25 fare, $90/$2.50 fare, $108/$3.00 fare, etc.
2) Metro Transit VanPool One- or Two-Zone Pass $90/1-zone, $108/2-zones
3) Reduced Fare Disabled/Senior/Youth Pass ($0.75 fare)
3) E-Purse (pay-as-you go/no monthly pass)

See:

http://metro.kingcounty.gov/fares/#types-of-fares

For instance, with a $90 one-zone pass you'd have to make 36 Metro one-zone peak trips/ST one-county trips to break even. If you make 42 trips (avg. 21 work days/month), you'd save $15/month over just using an e-purse. With each additional trip (to the store, pharmacy, doctor, etc.), you'd save more. If riding Link Light Rail or Sounder, it gets more complicated, since their fares are based on distance, not zones/counties.

One option is sharing a card/pass, if you're going to be splitting driving/busing. You could also have one card with a monthly pass on it, and another card with just an e-purse on it, for those days when you'd both be busing it.