Thursday 8 January 2015

Train and bus cheaper than a car

I stumbled across the article, Train and bus commute cheaper than the car, reporting on a study of transport costs in Australian cities.

In summary it calculated the costs at:
$10,698 - commuting by car (even a small car) for 15km.
$5,155 - catch public transport, leave the car at home. Saves $5543
$2,370 - catch public transport and have one less car. Saves $8328

That was one year ago. So for 2014, I tallied up how much I spent on public transport - each time I added credit to my go card.

$1195 - my total transport costs for 2014. About one-tenth of the average car costs.

So if you think you're saving money by driving, you may want to re-think that. (See how much your car costs you)

How much my public transport costs

PS. You might notice it got a lot cheaper near the end of the year. I left my previous job in October, and have travelled mainly by bicycle since then. That's another great advantage of being car-free - you only pay for what you use. With car ownership, if you leave (or lose) your job, you still have to pay a year's registration, a year's insurance. The car still gets older, and loses its value. You'll also be tempted to use it (and need to buy more fuel) when you could use cheaper and healthier options.

No comments: