Tip #10: Take the Bus

Ever since I went to college I have been a savvy bus rider. I took the bus onto campus while at school (my bus pass was free) and have commuted into Seattle for years. Even now that I have a kid, I still take the bus! Now, my husband and I only have one car so it is a motivator to take the bus when that's one of my few options (biking or walking are options as well). However, I did some calculations to see how much I saved by taking the bus to work when I worked into Seattle.

Price of one-way, peak, 2 zone fare = $2.50
Monthly Pass = $72
(Work #1) Parking in Seattle = $8/day or $168/month
(Work #2) Parking in Seattle = $12/day or $252/month
Gas = $4/day or $84/month (30 mpg, $3/gallon, 20 miles one-way)

Work #1
My first job in Seattle paid for 1/2 of my monthly bus pass, so I ended up paying $36/month for a pass. If I had driven it would have cost me $252/month. That's a savings of $216/month or $2,592/year!

Work #2
My second job in Seattle paid for even more of my pass and it was a flex pass, so I could use it on whatever or whenever. I had to pay $20/month for that. If I had driven it would have cost me $336/month. That's a savings of $316/month or $3,792/year!

If that's not a motivator to at least look at the bus route, I don't know what is! These calculations don't even count wear and tear on a car or extra gas due to traffic.

Problems: The only down-side is having to rely on the bus schedule and routes. When I was commuting into Seattle it wasn't really a problem because there are lots of routes into the city; I had options. For those who don't work or live in a bigger city, there might not be close routes or, in my husbands case, it could drastically increase your commute time (his 15 minute commute turns into a 60 minute commute). However, my commute time was shortened when I rode the bus, and I got lots of reading/sleeping/homework done!

For Western Washington residents: Just google one of the following to get to their website: Community Transit (Snohomish County)
Everett Transit
King County Metro Transit (http://metro.kingcounty.gov/)
Kitsap Transit
Pierce Transit
Sound Transit (Regional Co-Op for Central Puget Sound area)