Why I ride DART

Just thought I’d play around with the numbers today and see what we save by me riding DART each month.

I estimate it’s roughly 30 miles from my house to the office. A daily round trip is 60 miles a day. Multiply that to an average month of 20 work days and you’re looking at 1200 miles a month just to get to work and back.

My truck averages between 16 and 19 miles per gallon. Not great, but we knew we’d be getting somewhere around there when we bought it. Averaging those 1200 miles at 17 mpg, it would take 70 gallons of gas to get me to and from work every month. At $2.70 a gallon (a low average/estimate) it would cost me $190 a month just to drive to work. That’s $2,280 a year.

That doesn’t include the wear and tear on my truck and the increased number of oil changes I’d need.

In addition to the fuel costs, you have to find a place to park the truck. Across the street from my office is a parking lot that charges $8 a day. There’s a parking garage that’s super small – not made for full size trucks that costs $5 a day. The lot I do use when I have to drive costs $3 a day and there’s a cheaper one across the street from it that costs $2 a day.
So at minimum, I’d pay $40 a month to park. At maximum, I’d pay $160 a month to park.

That’s $230 – $350 a month, or $2,760 – $4,200 a year, just to drive my truck to work.

The cost of a DART monthly pass is only $80 a month or $960 a year. That’s a minimal savings of $1,800 a year! If we wanted to pre-pay for the year, I could get a yearly pass for $500. Giving us an additional $460 savings per year.

Plus, there’s the added benefit of getting to read and/or sleep on the bus ride. The knowledge that you’re not adding to the poor air quality in Dallas and the shorter drive time in the morning thanks to getting to utilize the HOV lane on the daily bus ride.

Now in full disclosure I do get a parking stipend of $110 a month for working in my office but that would come whether I rode DART or parked my car nearby. But with the cost of the DART pass and the stipend I get an additional $30 a month in savings.

What other ways have you found to save money on your daily commute?