Commuting 101: $4.92 for a Gallon of Gas or Golden Gate Transit?
Do you fight traffic on Highway 101 everyday, pay over $20 for bridge toll and parking, and on top of that now pay almost $5 for a gallon of gas? Maybe it is time to consider Golden Gate Transit.
Back in September I took a new position in San Francisco and was somewhat skeptical considering the commute I would be enduring on a daily basis. Fortunately, my wife also works in the city so we would be able to commute together. Our original plan was to take the bus three days a week and maybe drive the other two. However, after only a couple of weeks taking the bus, we don’t even bother to drive in at all anymore.
I couldn’t be more pleased with Golden Gate Transit. For almost the same price as a gallon of gas, I can get all the way into the Financial District. Of course it took a little adjusting at first, but now it is the only way to commute. Even if you carpool with another person, you would still save money on the bus. For my wife and me, when we drove we would spend $5 on bridge toll (FastTrack), $11 on parking (which is a steal for S.F.), and then roughly $10 on gas (fortunately our Rav4 gets decent mileage). That is $26 a day and doesn’t even account for the wear and tear we were putting on our vehicle plus a higher insurance premium for high mileage.
Taking the bus, we spend just under $20 a day and it is all pre-tax.
Beyond just the cost savings, there are several other advantages. The bus allows you to work on your computer, read, or take a short nap after a long day. Also, public transporation has far less impact on the environment.
Finally, to mix things up, you can take the bus on some days and the ferry on others. On the flip side, you will have to give up a few small luxuries on the bus. Good luck trying to sneak your morning Starbucks past the driver (or in my case, an afternoon Jamba Juice) as you might be asked to throw it away. Also, don’t expect to take that morning conference call on the bus. Even talking quietly on a cell phone will still be too loud for someone and you will probably be asked to quiet down or at least receive the stank eye from a nearby passenger.
For areas of improvement, I would suggest that Golden Gate Transit keep moving forward with adding wi-fi to their commuter routes. As it turns out, I am writing this blog from the bus on my way home and if my bus had wi-fi, I could have posted my blog, too. Golden Gate Transit has been testing wi-fi on some routes and based on an RFP they put out in December, they desire to equip all 155 buses with wi-fi by mid-2011. I am curious to see if they will hit that projection.
Regardless, Golden Gate Transit still gets high marks when it comes to commuting to San Francisco. If you haven’t tried Golden Gate Transit yet, maybe it is time. Who knows, maybe I will see you on the 56. If you still want to drive your car every day, though, then keep an eye out for the bus as it zips by you in the carpool lane.
Are you a regular car or bus commuter? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Cindy Harris
11:33 am on Thursday, May 26, 2011
I used to take GG transit when I worked in SF; the buses are clean, the schedules are almost always followed, and the commuters (in general) are very pleasant.
Paul Eastwood
4:06 pm on Friday, May 27, 2011
I work in the City and got tired of spending 20-25 dollars a day in commute expenses. So I pledged to take the bus. They were clean and the riders were a friendly bunch. But hardly a week went by without a bus being taken out of service. However, by about the seventh or eighth time I found myself waiting an hour in the rain on a cold December or January evening I decide that $20 wasn't so bad for the convenience of having my car available.
Public transit sounds great but in practice it doesn't really work here. The schedules are so thin that if anything happens the waits are very long. Let it rain on a Friday and all the buses going back to Marin are late. Let one driver over sleep and 56 people are going to get to work half an hour late. At least in the car I'm warm and dry even if I'm sat in traffic.
Marie Hoch
5:43 pm on Friday, May 27, 2011
Thank you for this post, Eric. Perhaps we can encourage Golden Gate Transit to be more user friendly by allowing coffee and drinks on the buses. Afterall, its allowed on the ferries.
And maybe the back rows of the bus could allow quiet phone calls? Being able to work and check in with loved ones makes the time on the bus more productive. Would we rather have these same commuters making calls in their cars?
I did not realize that bus fares are tax deductable. Can you tell us more?
Eric Lucan
9:30 am on Saturday, May 28, 2011
Maria-
Both public transit and parking can be tax deductible. Check out www.commutercheck.com. Employers can issue up to $230 a month in pre-tax commuter checks that can be used for public transportation, vanpooling, parking, or bicycling.
John Parnell
1:14 pm on Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Eric - Good article. I think most people forget about GGT, and it is ideal for those like you that commute to the City. How do you feel about SMART, both in general & in regards to your commute ?
Would you:
-drive to Hamilton & pay for parking in the SMART lot, since they've abandoned our Atherton station, which was going to give them 25% of their ridership
-pay to take the train to San Rafael
-pay again to take a bus either straight to downtown SF, or
-to the ferry, paying yet again for the ferry ticket?
Mark Schoenbaum
8:43 pm on Saturday, July 2, 2011
I ride GGT daily and never have a problem. The buses are clean and confortable and most drivers pride themselves on being on time. I can count the number of times a bus has not arrived on one hand.
I worry that the SMART boondoggle will drain funds from GGT and make fares rise sharply. GGT provides transit to almost all the service that SMART is expected to cover, except for intra-Sonoma county transit. Not only will Marin be expected to subsidize GGT but also SMART.
In any event, I find that GGT is a much better option to driving into the City and paying bridge tolls, gas, and parking, and it is better environmentally. SMART cannot make the same statement as it is useless for people commuting to SF.