So … an Elephant and a Dragon board a bus.
This summer quarter (just gone) UCLA began a commuter program whereby it encouraged employee parking pass holders to turn in their passes (and get a full refund on the monthly parking fee that runs $63.00/month) in exchange for free Metro TAP cards, electromagnetic swipe cards granting access on all Metro buses, subways and light rail.
I’ve been wanting to inch towards a greener, less me-centric lifestyle for a while but … it’s only gone as far as that–wanting, not acting.
Finally, I was given a financial incentive–and, yes, sadly, it did come down to that. (So much for eviscerating my soft me-centric center)
I ran the numbers:
A quick calculation of the standard fare of $1.25 each way, or $2.50 daily, had me looking at $10.00 of weekly transportation expenditure ($2.50 by four days, with Fridays off). Multiply that by the average number of weeks per month (which comes in around 4.2 weeks per month on average) and I’m looking at $42.00 a month in transportation costs to and from work, already $21.00 under what I was paying just to have the privilege of being allowed to park at UCLA–never mind that this in no way means an employee is guaranteed a parking spot.
The view from my bus stop at Sunset Blvd. facing north on Highland Avenue
But the real savings come in when calculations include the AAA “driving cost” estimate based on $0.541/mile. My one-way trip to school is about 11.82 miles, so my daily roundtrip comes in at 23.64 miles, bringing my total daily commute “driving cost” to $12.79. Multiply that by the 18 or so days a month I usually work (again, based on a four day workweek) and we see combined “driving cost” + no-parking fee savings of around $250.00 ($230.22 for the “driving cost” estimate plus the $21.00 savings which factors in the full monthly bus fare versus a UCLA parking permit).
However, UCLA in its wisdom and benevolence offers employees a substantial subsidy.
As a result, my actual monthly cost of getting to and from work is closer to $33.00/month (or $100.00 per academic quarter, really), and this is an all-you-can-eat proposition, allowing for use 24/7, whenever buses AND Metro trains (i.e., subway and light-rail) run.
So rather than the $42.00 I initially quoted, my total commute costs per month are $33.00.
And, really, anything I use beyond my daily commute is gravy. So, let’s say I want to catch Salonen conducting the L.A. Phil through Falla, Debussy and Ravel tonight … I just hop on my stop at Aqua Vista & Vineland and I’m at the Bowl in under 15 minutes–FREE.
Can’t beat that.
But the title of this post was really supposed to steer my thoughts towards an unexpected perk that came along with my bus riding. Namely, time to read–to catch up on The New Yorker and to dive into my burgeoning bier of bedside books. (I use ‘bier’ because … well, I’m a slow reader–deathly slow)
But these are two of the books I read this summer en route to and from work–devoting about a week’s worth of bus-time to each: Luce’s In Spite of the Gods and Kynge’s China Shakes the World, about India’s and China’s combustible economies, respectively.
Full (brief) reports to follow soon.
But the basic fact, the beauty part, as they say, and the raison d’être of this post, is that I’m foregoing the comfort of a car’s cocoon and joining the broader community in my commute–sparing the environment a little and saving myself a lot–at least $2,500.00 annually.
weirleader said,
October 4, 2008 at 1:18 pm
and here I thought you used bier just for the alliteration.
How long’s the bus ride? I can’t recall if I asked before… but for me to take public transportation here in Portland I’d have to ride for about 90-100 minutes – just to go 24 miles. I want to be green and all, but I don’t have that kind of time, especially we you consider that it’s both ways.
I probably wouldn’t mind nearly as much if I could really focus and read – I’m always worried I’m going to miss my stop.
pk said,
October 4, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Good for you- that’s excellent. Reminds me of when osu student body voted for all students to pay the metro bus $9/ qtr. to have unlimited bus access- I used it for over a year- great time to read ( don’t worry WL, you won’t miss your stop- set an alarm if you need to). LBCC now has plans for a shuttle between campuses. One of the chef faculty is very into sustainable living and just finished retrofitting his bike with an electric motor.
Once we are back in the house, I plan to get biking to work. The motor seems like a great way to stay motivated to use it- not out of laziness, but a desire to go teach or hit a meeting without showing up sweaty when there is no down time beforehand.
weirleader said,
October 5, 2008 at 4:50 am
I’ve also been thinking about biking to work — when we get an apartment much closer. I figured it’d be a lot cheaper and better for my fitness level. The two biggest concerns, however, are 1) (as pk mentioned) showing up sweaty to work isn’t great, and 2) the Portland weather is pretty wet, so I don’t know how often it’ll be a reasonable option.
writinwrong said,
October 5, 2008 at 6:06 am
PK: Yeah, compromise solutions like the motor on the bicycle are ideal (assuming its not absurdly costly to retrofit the thing).
It makes me think of the calculations done on how its more environmentally friendly to buy a used gas guzzler than to spring for a brand new fuel-efficient hybrid.
With the motor-added bike, though, its hard to imagine it being anything less than efficient and eco-friendly, bearing a small carbon footprint and being well suited to the straightaway between you and school.
Weirleader: my bus ride is about 50-55 minutes in the morning and about 75-80 minutes in the evening, so combined, somewhere between 125-135 minutes a day.
And, admittedly, I do have a bit more trouble focusing on the reading during the ride home because of the stop and go rush hour traffic on Sunset Blvd. But its hard to imagine missing my stop. It could be because I’m not nearly so self-immersive in books as you are (“Just one more chapter …”). If anything, constant concern about missing my stop is causing me to misread passages–and I often end up repeating the same several paragraphs during more distracted moments.
By contrast, by the way, my drive in the Hyundai normally is around 40-45 minutes in the morning and around 45-50 minutes in the evening. What really separates the two commute modes is the added time I have to factor in to walk to and from the various bus stops. That probably tacks on an additional 10-15 minutes total per day, versus jumping in my car …
All considered, good weather makes this a much more viable option here in Southern California. I can’t imagine going through all this in Boston or Minneapolis. And yet we’re such a single-occupant automobile town.
A real shame.