It's 1:30 AM. Do You Know Where Your Blogger Is?

Earlier, I said I'd post about the recent transit fare hike. Here's how it breaks down:

If I get in my '04 Ford Focus and drive the 22 Km (14 Mi) to work, it costs:
1) Fuel: 2 litres at about 80¢ each
2) Approximately forty minutes of my time each way.

I owe nothing on the car, but there's wear and tear, plus the fact that the warranty will be shortened. Since it's five years or 100,000 Km, whichever comes first, each kilometre I drive beyond 20,000 per year adds to the maintenance cost of the car. Follow me?

So: Based on an annual maintenance cost of $500 (cost of four oil changes per year plus the "level II" and "level III" servicings required under warranty) plus approximate depreciation per kilometre (8¢). Oh, and there's about $1400 per year in insurance.

3) Operating costs per day:

Insurance: $4.16
Fuel:$1.60
Mileage (22 Km to and fro): $3.52
Depreciation per day: $4.38
Total: $13.66

On the other hand, if I take the bus:

Tickets (both ways @ $3:00): $6.00

Seems pretty simple, no? Well not quite.

You see, included in the above is the unwritten assumption that my time has no value, and that convenience, ease of travel, and reliability are of no worth. But these are false assumptions.

My boss figures my time is worth money. For the sake of argument, let's assume I'm worth as little as $16 per hour. I'm actually worth a hell of a lot more, but let's pretend.

Convenience is valuable. If the bus stopped outside the door of my workplace, it would be convenient. Unfortunately it's roughly a fifteen-minute walk from my stop to work. Likewise, if I could board a single bus, or transfer only once; but I board an elevated train, then get on a bus, then transfer to another bus following a ten-to-twenty-minute wait, which takes place in an area with no bus shelter. And at the current outdoor temperature, that's an issue.

Ease of travel: Just how convenient is it to board the bus, and how enjoyable is the trip, compared to driving? Actually, based on some of the freaks I find I have to share the highway with, the bus may have the edge here. On the other hand, consider that some of the people on the bus are too freaky to have a driver's license.

Reliability: From my boss' standpoint. How often do I show up late?

Overall, here's what I need to consider. To catch the bus, I must get up at 4:45 AM instead of 5:45 to drive. I also arrive home roughly half-an-hour later than by driving.
Costs: 1.5 Hr x $16/Hr = $24 over and above driving cost of 1.75 Hr, or $28$.

Convenience: How to measure my walk in? Why, the same way as I reckon any other time figure. .25 Hr x $16 = $4. Also, since the temperatures are hitting -10 there's another factor to consider.

Ease of travel: I have to take totally different busses going out and coming home. I must transfer a minimum of four times daily. I can't cost this, and I won't try.

Reliability: The real thorn in my side. I start work at 7. I like to be into the shop no later than 6:45. If I take the bus, the walk at the end gets me in between 6:45 and 6:59. That's if there are no delays.

If I miss my first bus, I can get the next one, but that's it. If I miss the second bus, there is no other leaving in time for me to arrive at work on time.

The first day I took a bus, there was a delay on the rail line between my first and second transfer points. I missed my first bus and arrived twenty minutes late. I can't afford to do that twice. How do you cost something that can cost you your job?

So based solely on the cost factors I've listed, and factoring in my time costs:

Car costs: $41.66

Bus costs: $56.00, Plus or minus my job.

That's based on the rate that the bus used to cost. The fare went up by 25¢ a few days ago.

I want to be a clean commuter, I really do. The SO and I have only one car, and since she's providing my marvellous meals I'd rather leave the grocery-grabber with her. But I'm actually considering the purchase of a used car (which could reduce the per-day cost to under $20).

Because to commute on public transit, I have to get up at an hour I don't want to contemplate, let alone actually arise at, in order to catch a sequence of vehicles that drop me about a mile from work. If I miss any of the connections, I could become unemployed rather quickly.

And now this quality of service is going to cost 50¢ more?

If there was a single bus I could ride from my house to work, and if I could guarantee that I'd arrive at work on time every day without fail AND if I could do all that by getting up at five-thirty every morning, I would fork out the fifty cents and be hanged to it.

But the stunning inconvenience of it all is really just unsatisfactory. As it is, I get by by alternating driving and busing. Under the circumstances, I'd really rather drive. Every day.

Post scriptum: It's not as though I'm getting a bus out to cattle country. I work in a major industrial estate, where many businesses get off to an early start. And at least three or four of my fellow commuters make the same trip each morning. COuldn't we boost the numbers to one busfull by having a service that actually went where we need to go?

Recently, there's been a hell of a fight going on about whether to extend the elevated rail south of the city to the airport, then into the suburb I work in. If I thought it would go anywhere near where I work I'd be more enthusiastic. But it'll probably just stop at the mall. Still, I'm for it. We need more and better public transit. Quite badly.