ANNOUNCEMENTS
Welcome to the new LFTTR site! Please let us know your comments on the new site design.
Search


Archives
Recent Entries
SMORGASBLOG PARTNERS
TRANSPORTATION- RELATED BLOGS
Powered by
Movable Type 3.2



October 21, 2005

I'm on the wrong bus...

I want to ride with these people. There's also a bit about WMATA's new calculator that purports to compare the cost of driving and transit. The economist in me says that the calculator needs to distinguish fixed and variable costs. Most notably the calculator treats insurance as a variable cost, when for most folks it is fixed.

Even so I save a bundle by using transit, because I have no car at all...my apartment building charges something like $100 per month just for parking!

Post Author: massysett | 09:38 AM | Link | TrackBacks
Comments

Don't know if you are following today's chat
http://new.forums-wmata.com/
but evidently the calculation is being addressed (one of the replies: "By mid-afternoon the changes will be made. We will have dropped the calculated gas costs and use only the GSA mileage rate that includes gas. We'll also add costs of driving to a Metro lot. As you’ve already pointed out, Metro is probably still a less expensive way to travel, although the calculator will probably show that the driving expense is somewhat lower once the adjustments to the calculator are made.") but will they make driving more attractive? Will they factor in parking in downtown DC?

Posted by: Justin at October 21, 2005 01:01 PM

Insurance is partially a variable cost. One of the first questions your insurance company asks you is how far you drive to work. Then how many miles you drive per year. Do one of those online quotes things and play around with those factors. Going from 15,000 km to 24,000 km impacted my insurance rate by 50%. You are far less likely to get involved in an accident if your car is in your driveway. Theft and vandalism, however, are not impacted by mileage.

In addition, the more you drive, the more likely you are to get traffic tickets or get into traffic accidents. These will impact your insurance regardless of actual fault.

One thing to consider, however, is that by not having a car, you will generally pay much more for insurance when you decide to get one. The impact varies wildly from one insurance company (and jurisdiction) to an other.

Posted by: Sam Rogers at October 25, 2005 04:57 PM
Post a comment









Remember personal info?







All Site Information/Content Copyright by Live from the Third Rail and/or the Entry Author
Site Design by BinarySpark Graphics
A member of the Smorgasblog family of blogs.