How much does your commute cost and how do you justify it?

[Glenstache]

My commute costs:
$9 if I take the bus (including bike-bus combo): 1 hour average elapsed time
$11.60 if I drive: 25 to 40 minutes (This assumes a $0.40/mile actual total cost of ownership, as supported by some nerdy spreadsheets).
Nominal cost if I ride bike the whole way: 85 minutes +/-  a few lights. Good exercise, but a huge chunk out of day.

All times are one-way. All costs are round-trip.

Left to my own devices, this would be shorter. I vary tansport according to my work needs and how awful the weather is; I tend not to ride when it is icy on the roads. I regularly need a personal vehicle for work. The bike-bus combo gets me to work happier than driving and I get to read on the bus. The long ride is quite frankly somewhat injury dependent as I've had some issues of late.

I justify it by getting to live with SO, who owns the house. Rent is cheap and more than compensates for the aggregate cost of commuting. Biggest issue is the time lost out of every day.

[EastCoastMike]

If I take Metro (DC subway), I spend $3.70 each way.  Those are "rush hour" rates which are from opening (5am normally) to 9:30am and 3pm to 7pm.  Basically, anytime I get on Metro, it'll be at rush hour rates.  I typically spend about 45 minutes door to door. 

If I bike, I'll take about 1 hour 15 minutes going in because of lots of downhills, and 1 hr 45 minutes going home because of lots of uphills.  I'm starting to whittle those times down a bit as I get in better shape.

If I had the physical stamina for it, I'd bike in every day.  I don't have it yet.  I'm up to three days a week.  I'm going to bike in tomorrow, which will be my first back to back days.  I prefer the bike option.  I get to work happier, more awake, and more motivated.  I'm single and not currently dating, so I don't have to consider anyone else's opinions about the time involved. 

[2Birds1Stone]

My commute is 4.4 miles so 44 miles per week. It costs me roughly $10 a week in gas. Less if I ride the motorcycle and free if I bicycle which is rare/never. That will change next year although the road to and from work is scary 55 mph with a very narrow shoulder.

[frugalecon]

Commute costs zero (employer transit subsidy for DC Metro) and takes 30 minutes door-to-door. The needed justification is living close-in, in a relatively expensive neighborhood. But that is walkable and bikeable to most things (bank, groceries, library, hardware store, movies, wine, beer, and liquor, all the essentials). Seems reasonable. I sometimes think people focus too much on the price of the house without considering the value of the bundle it represents.

[nereo]

Commute is about 15 mintues via bus.  I have a bus pass ($53/month).  It's about 10-12min by bike.  I bike whenever I can.  ~35 minute walk.  Only walk on really nice days summer days
I never drive (parking costs along makes it completely not worth it)

[Prepube]

Commute is an easy 30 highway miles each way with only rare traffic jams and usually takes about 40 minutes.  The prius gets about 90 mpg going to work, 38 on the way home, for an average of greater than 50 mpg according to the car's computer.  I fill up every 8 trips or so, usually for about 35.00, so it's under 5.00 per round trip commute. I love the mountain home where I live, and it's worth every penny I spend because every mile further away from work mproves my mental health that much more.  Public transportation would be more expensive than the Prius, and riding sixty miles every day on a bike would kill this aging body. 

[MoneyCat]

My commute is about 9.5 miles each way, but I drive a hybrid, so the cost is much lower than for most people.  Hybrids obviously use less gas, but they also cost a lot less for maintenance than your typical car.  In my area, using conservative numbers, it costs me about 8 cents per mile in gas.  I'm not sure how to calculate maintenance into it, because I've hardly had to do any since I got the car.  It only needs oil changes and tire rotations every 10,000 miles since the ICE doesn't run as often as your typical car.

[Janie]

I ride my bike a couple miles to the Metro station (all weather, no exceptions). I rent a bike locker there ($120/year) which keeps my bike out of sight and out of the weather. Employer pays my Metro fare ($7.50 round trip each day). The train ride is about 45 minutes each way, and I usually spend that time reading. 

[gimp]

About $8 a day according to the federal per-mile reimbursement. Moving closer would not really be cheaper (save $150 on gas, spend $300 on rent, save 4 minutes a day on commuting...).

[Notch]

My commute is 1.8 km (1.1 mi). I drive because it's hot and I need to take safety gear and because it's so fast (2-3 mins), easy and cheap. Cost = ~$80 in fuel per year.

[alsoknownasDean]

About $130 a month (soon to be about $100 a month) for the tram to work, which takes about 40min.

Driving would take a similar amount of time, but parking would be $10 a day, plus car running costs (which at 7km each way and $0.30/km would be another $4.20 a day). Total cost per month to drive would be about $284.

How I justify it? The closer I get to the city, the higher the rents get. The tram ticket is cheaper than the extra rent would be.

Cycling is faster, but until I can do it without needing a shower at the other end, it's out of the question.

[10dollarsatatime]

30 cents each way if I drive.  (which I hardly feel the need to justify, now that I've done the math.)  I only live 1.7 miles from work so I usually ride my bike.  And even at that distance I still get the crazy person treatment.

If it weren't for the fact that the BF lives 45 miles away, and I'm an absolute sissy in the winter, I'd almost never have to fill up the car...

[Foggier]

My commute is 4.5 miles each way. I seem to be able to get 25 mpg even in city driving with some hypermiling techniques on my beater, so at say $3.8/gallon CT prices, the commute costs ~$1.4/workday.

[Paulie]

My commute is about 40 miles each way and it takes me 1 hour door to door. I go by train, which is by far the cheapest (we don't own a car, it's quite expensive in the Netherlands). I do get some reimbursement for my train pass, but I pay about $100 myself every month. I don't really like my commute, but I do get to read a lot, and my SO can go to his work by bike.

[kpd905]

I rotate through 3 different hospitals, so my one way drives are 4, 16 and 22 miles to each one.  I could cut that down by living at a central location to all of them, but it would be about $300 more in rent.

[Mr. Frugalwoods]

I bike, and it takes me 10 to 14 minutes door to door depending on which lights I hit and how hard I'm pushing myself.

I bought my bike new for $500 about 7 years ago.  My bike maintenance costs are covered by my employer.

So my commute is pretty darned cheap.  If I value the exercise benefits of biking (and I do!) then biking is a net financial positive over not commuting at all.

[E_Ransom]

My commute is $1.17, one way. If I use my car while at work, all gas expense is covered.

I justify it because the set of roads between my house and work are dangerous. However, I found this exercise enlightening. I did not know my commute was so much.

[AgileTurtle]

18 Miles one way. So about a gallon of gas round trip 4 days a week. Any closer to work property taxes would double possibly triple.  If I can figure out a path when it gets warm I will ride to work. 

[aneel]

This is something I question on almost a daily basis.  I feel like none of the options are truly justified, and that's probably because there are so darn many!
I live about 18 miles south of Boston where I work - this location was chosen as somewhere we could afford a home, because renting was interrupting sleep too much and causing a lot of angst/depression.

Bus + subway: 1:15 each way, $75/month (or ~ $1.50/trip)
Bike (4mi each way) + subway: same as above, but my bike is much more reliable than the bus in the evenings (and some stations throughout boston now have an awesome cage for you store your bike in that requires a registered smart card to access - BONUS)
Walk(0.9mi) + Commuter Rail + Walk + Subway: Same time-ish, cost: $7/trip. There's a fancy commuter rail station 0.9 miles from my house.  but it drops me off in the wrong part of the city relative to where my office is.  Then I'm stuck walking to work (~25 mins) or taking 2 subways, OR walking and taking 1 subway.

I often am considering ways to optimize my commute for time and money and happiness.  For now I commit to the monthly transit pass at $75/month, and I pay as I go to ride the commuter rail - this is optimal when I need to arrive close to my home for various reasons and my husband is usually picking me up, eliminating the 0.9 mile walk.
Sheesh its complicated.
I have done some run-commuting in place of the biking and will probably be doing more as winter approaches and the busses become a mess.

I'd love for someone to tell me I'm crazy and then suggest the optimal solution :)

[AlanStache]

Bit under 30 min each way for me when not in tourist season by car; mostly highway.  Have looked at the alternatives (moving & different job) and they are not great or worse than the drive on most days.  I would love to get the commute to under 10 min but I think it would require to many other trade offs that would not make it worth it now.  This is the biggest thing I go back and forth on now; what the he|| to do.  Public transit or a bike are not practical in my area.

Biggest issue is the time lost out of every day.

yep.

[EngineerMum]

If I go straight to the office, it's about 17km, so on the government's AUD$0.70/km calculation, that's  $11.90 per trip, 8 times a week. I have a parking space, so no cost there, and timewise it's roughly 30 minutes each way (though if I'm lucky with traffic it can be 15 mins, and if there's been a crash, more like an hour).
I rode a few times from old house (same distance more or less) and it took a good 1:10 there and 1:30 back - more uphill coming home. I could definitely get that down with more fitness and a better bike if I decided to go that way.
However, complicating factor is that 3 days a week I'm not going straight to work, and it's apparently 30kms one way, which I flat out cannot bike - certainly not with a passenger for the first 15.
So that is how I justify it, I am just not capable of riding that. Public transport between home and GPs  with toddler, errr no. PT from one set of GPs and office, doable, but an hour rather than 30 mins in the car. It just makes the day too long and toddler can't handle it - and I can't really either. And it's not like I didn't try - this location was chosen to be the best option of livable dwelling and proximity to work / parents / separated husband / parents IL.

TLDR: as long as I am taking Toddler to 3 different places on work days, options other than driving are just not feasible, no justification needed.

[GuitarStv]

I bike the 11 miles each way twice or three times a week (40 - 45 minutes each way), which doesn't really cost me much as I do my own maintenance.  New cassette every couple years, a new chain every year, new cables after the winter, some lube . . . probably under 200$.  I've probably spent an extra 100$ each year on bike clothing, and I'm slowly building a wardrobe that makes the trip more comfy.

I drive the remainder of the week (about 25 - 50 minutes each way depending on traffic).  Regular maintenance costs, very high insurance (we live in the most expensive place to insure a vehicle in Canada), and gas.  Since I've been biking, our gas consumption has dramatically reduced.

I've checked out our transit options . . . it's not too expensive, but would take about an hour and a half each way assuming that all of the buses and three transfers are on time and go off without a hitch.  This is a rare scenario during winter, so it's not really an option.

[DecD]

My commute is 4.4 miles so 44 miles per week. It costs me roughly $10 a week in gas. Less if I ride the motorcycle and free if I bicycle which is rare/never. That will change next year although the road to and from work is scary 55 mph with a very narrow shoulder.

This is my situation as well.  Short commute = good.

[MrFancypants]

I would estimate it costs me between $180 and $200 a month in up front costs (insurance and fuel).

I estimate that the initial purchasing price of my vehicle (subtracting its current value) adds another $360 to that, but this is a number that decreases over time as I get more use out of it.  It also doesn't impact my wallet on a month by month basis because the car is paid for.

I guess that maintenance adds another $50 a month.

It sounds expensive because it is.  However, I am well compensated by my employer.  While I do not get a specific "transportation fund" to cover costs, and when the opportunity presents itself I can take advantage and pocket some extra cash, the general instability of my career does require the flexibility a vehicle provides.

I have options to live closer to work, but those come with their own set of financial disadvantages.

[mrsggrowsveg]

My commute costs me about $300 a month including maintenance.  This will go down soon because I am getting a fuel efficient vehicle.  My commute is 29 miles each way.  It is tough to justify if, but there are reasons I do it.  We have a significant amount of beautiful land that we hope to turn into a permaculture farm that will provide us with income and food.  This type of property would cost a small fortune near a town.  I cannot do the work vanpool because I take my toddler to daycare.  My husband does not want to move under any circumstances.  He travels every day for work by car or plane so moving would not save on his commute.  Sometimes I bike part of the way which cuts off 5 miles.  I loathe my commute, but working will allow us to FIRE in 10 years and work on our farm.

[Gone Fishing]

Right now I am commuting 35 miles(driven in 35 minutes) one way, 5 days a week.  I figured up $.25 per mile a few years ago, probably a Civic at the time (Corolla now), but I can't remember what gas was then.  Registration, taxes, and insurance are all fixed costs that I would have anyway, so the best way to figure it would be the incremental cost of the fuel, tires, oil, and additional depreciation/repairs caused by mileage. We live in a rural area where jobs are scarce, so I am glad to have what I have in terms of a job.  Otherwise, living expenses are low, just about the lowest in the country which makes a commute for a good paying job tolerable.  I've been doing it for 6.5 years but I certainly would not consider doing it for a full typical career length.  I'm looking forward to my commute dropping to 0!         

[Ftao93]

Man, I am going to stop whining about commutes!

My short commute is @ 3.5 miles.  I park the scooter for free  and the cost is .045 cents a mile.

When I take my long commute to a nearby city, I get paid mileage and also park the motorcycle for free.   The mileage comes out to $42 a trip, and it costs me @ $5.  The rest makes the payment on the bike.

[ketchup]

Comes out to just under $7/day (driving) accounting for all vehicle costs (not just gas).  Hoping to bring that down to $0 next year by moving closer and biking.  That will raise housing costs somewhat (currently we live with roommates), but that will be more than offset by saved commute money and most importantly, time.

[Caella]

I commute 5 miles one way, 15 min by car, for a total of almost 4 bucks/day.

Justification:

By public transport i would spend the same 4 bucks for the round trip, but the commute would be a lot longer, close to 40~50min each trip due to waiting for the bus and the constant stopping.

I would love to ride a bike, but my husband is totally fearful of them and discourages me. The fear is more about getting robbed on the way than traffic, although traffic is still a concern.

Since I get out on the car everyday, I try to optimize all the driving I have to do, and do everything on this trip, instead of going home and out again multiple times.

[Pooperman]

350 $/mo / 25 workday/mo = 10 $/workday. 1:15 by walk+commuter rail+walk. Justified by not spending all my income on housing near work (in NYC). Rent + commuter monthly pass = $1300. This number is what it would cost (minimum, usually $1700+) to rent a place in a shitty area closer (but not counting the $100 in commuter pass from there).

[nawhite]

I work from home so my commute costs the additional house space and heating/cooling/water/electricity for a home office. I'd guess working from home costs me about $1.50/day mostly because I would technically need one less room in the house if I commuted. The tax deduction takes care of most of the utility expenses. From a time perspective I'd say about 15 seconds though. That's how I justify it :-)

Before this I took the light rail to work. Door to door in 30 minutes because we chose to buy a house right next to a station thanks to the True Cost of Commuting MMM post. Total cost was $71 (pre-tax) for a monthly rail pass.

[damize]

Quote from: 2Birds1Stone on October 27, 2014, 06:59:33 PM
My commute is 4.4 miles so 44 miles per week. It costs me roughly $10 a week in gas. Less if I ride the motorcycle and free if I bicycle which is rare/never. That will change next year although the road to and from work is scary 55 mph with a very narrow shoulder.

This is my situation as well.  Short commute = good.

This. Except I ride my bike 2-3 times per week.

[rocketpj]

I think I'm going to be the man out on this one.

When I ride my bike:  5 km ride to ferry.  55 minutes on ferry ($12.50 round trip).  $2.75 bus on other side to work (with another 5 km ride at the end).  Total time 2.5 hours one way.  Total round trip cost: $18 + cost of bike maintenance etc.  If the bike's broken down and I take the bus to the ferry on the home side then add another $4.50 round trip cost (different transit systems mean I need different tickets).

I justify it by the fact that I only do it 3 times in 2 weeks (I work 24 or 48 hour shifts).  I like the ride and the ferry is very comfortable (I read a novel or nap usually).  That said, I am looking forward to ending it.

[cpa cat]

30 mins each way (about 30 miles each way). I get 36 mpg. So that's around 5 bucks a day.

I hate commuting. But I specifically took this job in order to avoid the 1 hr/each way commute that my alternatives had.

I justify it because it's short-term. I plan on becoming self-employed within about 12 months. It was never worth it to move closer.

[BlueMR2]

I estimate $12.50 each day I drive.  So far looks to be about half that ($6.25) if I'm able to motorcycle commute on a given day.

Bicycling, don't know, haven't calculated since it's not realistic for this current commute.

**edit**

Forgot the justification...  Justified because I make more than enough to cover it, so I'm increasing savings by working.  It's also a really great company to work for.  I've had offers from places closer (possibly in cycling distance) for more $, but have passed them up as I didn't like the culture as much.

[Gmullz]

My commute is 5 kilometres. Driving is out of the question because of the cost of parking and the increased chance I would murder someone if I had to drive to work every day. Until I started biking, the bus was my best option. Here's how it breaks down:

Bus Full-Time: $78 per month, 25-35 minutes each way.

Biking Full-Time: Cost of bike maintenance ($5 a month?), 15-20 minutes each way.

Since June I've been biking full time. I've only taken the bus one day since (blew a tire on my bike), which is $2.50 each way.

[NoraLenderbee]

Car: 9.5 miles each way, about 15 min in the morning and 25-45 in the evening. I get about 30 mpg.
Bike: 9.6 miles each way, about 45 minutes.
I never calculated the costs, but my car is old and depreciated.
Bus/light rail are available, but would take over an hour each way.

It's a piece of cake compared to my last job, which was over 1.5 hours each way: 10 min drive to station, 1 hour train ride (assuming no delays), 25 minute walk to office. Cost $280/month for train pass. It was horrible. I really appreciate the commute I have now.

[Fodder]

My commute is 25 km one-way. (just under 16 miles)

In the mornings, my husband and I drive together.  At night, because I work later, and he has to pick the kids up from daycare, he drives alone, and I take the bus, which is $4.18 one-way (I use a Presto card, so I know exactly how much I spend on transit).

While the distance would be bike-able for an avid cyclist, I'm not willing to do it because it would cut into the very limited time I can spend with the kids (i.e., I would get home at least a half hour later), and then I wouldn't be able to get dinner on the table in time.

On paper, there is likely no justification for choosing to live so far from work.  With the amount I spent on my home, I could probably find a livable space very close to work.  My office is in a very desirable neighbourhood (which is expensive though, so what I could afford in this area would be pretty tiny and possibly in need of very expensive repair).

My justification is entirely psychological - I love living in the country, being surrounded by trees and nature and having privacy around me. 

Our monthly transportation-related costs (including gas, insurance, and my bus fares and any parking costs) seem to be averaging around $400.  We put a lot of kilometres on the car; partially due to the commute, but also due to my husband's twice-weekly hockey (the rinks change but usually are between 20 and 30 km away; he's been playing with the same guys for 10 years though and I'm certainly not going to ask him to stop and find a closer arena), and the fact that we often visit family out of town (the last three months have us going to Toronto twice and Pembroke twice).

When I think about it, it does seem a bit high, considering the vehicle is efficient and paid off.  Of the money we've spent over the last three months, $831 has been on fuel, so I guess that works out to an average of about $63/week on gas (again though, including road trips).

I'm trying to be more mindful of car trips though.  Fewer trips to the store = fewer kilometres on the car in general. 

[dude]

Rough calculations put it at @$10/day (70 mile round trip daily, @ 24mpg, $3.35/gallon), but that's just fuel costs.  Additional wear and tear and maintenance?  I don't know, but it's not trivial. My 2008 Subaru Outback has almost 180,000 miles on it.

Why?  Oh man, for starters, the DW would NOT live out in the 'burbs where I work.  No way, no how. She has to be in/near the city; she takes the train to work (15 minutes ea. way).  And I have to say, I far prefer city living myself to the burbs.  Where we live, we can walk to numerous restaurants, grocery stores, gyms, trains, etc.  We have many cultural amenities very close by like museums, universities, professional sports franchises, etc., all accessible via mass transportation.  And finally, I only have 4 1/2 years left to do this job before I can retire and never do the daily commute again, so that sustains me.

[Dr. Doom]

16 mile round trip, .40 per mile (probably less) in an older Corolla, 4 days a week = ~$25

x50 weeks -- so, let's call it $1250 a year.  To be sure, this is a chunk of change, but I feel it's less than average by a good margin.  I don't lose sleep over it.

Re: Justification
1) The only bike route to work has a few hellish sections with curvy, tight roads and no bike lane.  I've done it a few times and, sorry to say, I'm just so overwhelmingly uncomfortable with regards to my personal safety that I no longer try.  It makes the rides stressful and unpleasant instead of fun because, rational or no, I feel like I'm going to get creamed at any moment.

2) Also, I'm a runner and much prefer to put my physical energy into that activity instead.  I drive to work early and go running.  I know that there's an optimization here, but this optimization would result in a happiness drop.  I get a superior high from running -- something about the motion makes me happy in a way that biking fails to.  Additionally, some of my social world revolves around races.

I do bike around town quite a bit though!

[alice76]

My .25 mile walk is free and takes me 5 minutes alone or 10 minutes with my 4 year old son.  I've worked at the same school for 10 years, and since last year, my son has attended this school, as well.  We moved as close as possible when I was pregnant. My husband, however, has an hour and a half commute that costs $112 a month for a metro card. If we had a car (and decided to use it) his commute would be 30 minutes and much more expensive, including purchasing a car, upkeep, gas, parking (or hours playing the parking game, take your pick!), and tolls.

[Chranstronaut]

Excluding depreciation (which is very slow on my ol' mule), but including all parts, services, registration and insurance fees, my car runs ~$0.34 a mile or $157 a month.  This is $6.80 a day to commute to meet my vanpool, then the vanpool is free to me (costs my work $60 a month).  This is an improvement over the $18.36/commute day for driving myself the whole way to work.  Paying out directly to the vanpool would still be cheaper than driving it alone every day.

I don't justify this, it's dumb and I hate it.  I'm moving at the end of the month and can't be more excited!  We picked a house directly in between my job and my SO's job and then drove an hour each day in opposite directions.  SO's got a new job, so we're outta there!

[Albert]

Train + bus about 30 km and it takes 40 min door to door. Daily commute cost ca 2.8 $ (730 CHF/year), but the same pass is also valid on weekends and for city trams/buses.

[VirginiaBob]

About $8 a day for me.  I drive rather than bike and do not take public transportation.

[cambridgecyclist]

My cycling commute is just under 5 miles each way and it takes about 35 minutes door-to-door. Cost is about $0, since my employer reimburses for up to $20 worth of cycling-related expenses per month.

It would take longer, be less reliable and cost more to commute any other way.

[seattlecyclone]

I take the bus 10-15 minutes each way. It's free for me because my employer buys my bus pass. If I had to pay, it would be $4.50-$5.00/day (depending on whether I commute at "peak" times that day or not).

[MrFancypants]

I've thought about this question more and I'd like to frame the answer another way...

My commute allows me to earn an extra $1350 a month.  I get paid just under $59 an hour to drive my car every day.

Because of housing.

[Melody]

My commute was about $5 a day but I just realised adding a short walk drops it to $3.50 a day via bus. It's about 6.5km (4miles) and I Sometimes walk home (about an hour). I have ridden but nearly got hit by a bus. Going the safe way pushed it out closer to 9kms which I found was a bit tiring and took too long. I am gonna fix up my skateboard again so then I can bus in and skate out :) that should get the hour walk down to a more acceptable number and shave some time off the bus stop to office walk too

[Melody]

Bus + walk is about half an hour in peak, but occasionally I get a good run and it's like 20mins.about 8mins of this is walking

[Melody]

My rent is pretty much as cheap as you can get anywhere in the metro area in total $ per week. In $ per square meter it's not cheap ha ha ha. Living brat from town doesn't save you money if you are a single and can live in a super small space.