I’ve always had a long commute. I’ve never worked “downtown” nor has there been good public transit where I’ve lived. Until now.
To give you some background, Minnesota has what people call “the twin cities.” Minneapolis and St. Paul are two major cities that are located right next to each other, separated only by about seven miles.
Minnesota also just opened a new section of light rail line that runs from one end of St. Paul all the way to the opposite end of Minneapolis. The light rail that already is in place connects with the airport (which is located south of the city), the Mall of America, and other stops along the way.
Along with the new light rail line is another upgrade in public transit: more bus routes that bring people directly to stations. There is now a bus that runs every half hour from a bus stop only a few houses down the street.
If I worked downtown I could easily take the bus and light rail and save money by not having to pay for parking. My issue is that I live in one suburb and work in another.
The good news? The light rail will eventually run all the way to the suburb that I work. Besides the obvious problem that that portion of the light rail won’t be ready for about 4 years, it brings up an interesting question that I’m sure many others have asked themselves: is public transit worth the hassle?
The Financial Cost
You would think public transit would be inexpensive, considering the fact that it’s highly subsidized (the light rail loses hundreds of millions every year). So let’s look at what my daily cost of taking public transit would be, using metro transit rates:
Bus to light rail: $2.25
Light rail to light rail: $2.25
Light rail to work: $2.25
One-way rate: $6.75
Round-trip rate: $13.50
20 Days worth of commuting: $270
This is a rough estimate. It may be slightly less, assuming the transfer fee from light rail to light rail line is less than if you are simply riding one light rail line. They mention this on the site but do not give details. We’ll be conservative and consider the maximum cost.
The Time Cost
The financial cost isn’t the only thing to keep in mind. There’s also the additional time it would take me to get to work. Public transit is quite a bit slower than driving, at least if you plan your commute to avoid the worst of rush hour.
Because the final light rail line I would take hasn’t even started construction, it’s impossible to judge how long it would take for the light rail to get me from downtown Minneapolis to the suburb I work. I can give a conservative estimate of an hour and a half, though, and in reality it could reach an hour and 45 minutes. Each way.
That’s a significant time loss, but it doesn’t factor in the one huge advantage of taking public transit: WiFi. While WiFi currently isn’t offered on the light rail or buses in the Twin Cities, it should be very soon. Being able to work and get things done while I commute is a huge advantage.
Can I Really Eliminate my Car?
If taking public transit to work would mean that I could completely eliminate my wife and my need for a second car, it would almost certainly make financial sense. The problem is that with my wife in grad school and both of us doing various things on nights and the weekend, it gets tough to get by with only one car.
There’s also the fact that if I have a doctor’s appointment or anything else throughout the week I would be out of luck. Public transit is pretty good here, but it’s not that good.
Is Public Transit Worth the Hassle?
I have a few years to decide if it makes sense for me to take public transit to work. At this point I’m definitely willing to give it a try, but I could see myself get sick of the long commutes pretty quick, especially since the financial gains don’t seem to be that material.
Have you ever – or do you currently – take public transit for work? Would you be willing to take public transit if your metro area had a light rail system in place that makes it easy to get around?
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Photo by Michael Hicks
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I live in a rural setting but recently found out that I can drive ten minutes and hop on a bus the rest of the way which is about 30 miles. I’d save gas money but I’d have to sacrifice sleeping in as late as I do but I’m very much considering it.
Wes used to take public transit when we first moved in together at 18 to save some money. He couldn’t find cheap car insurance anywhere (blame that on him having fast cars starting at the age of 16 and racking up speeding tickets), so he started taking public transit instead. It was horrible and it didn’t last for very long. It took him around 2 hours to get to work each day (4 hours round trip) whereas it would have only taken 15 minutes in a car. He also had to deal with a lot of horrible people on the train and bus each day. He once even had his ticket stolen and of course the ticket police noticed it but gave him an $85 ticket for “not having a ticket.” LOL What the heck! I still cannot get over that.
I’m not a big fan of public transportation, but that’s easy for me to say, living in the boonies. I can see how it could be valuable to those living and working in the cities. My dad is absolutely loving the new light rail b/c he lives in the heart of St. Paul, and gets to ride for free to the VA because vets ride free. I think that’s a sweet feature of the light rail and love that they’re honoring our vets in that way.
With the exception of one temp job I had years ago when I lived in Seattle, public transportation was too inconvenient to get to work. It makes most sense when obviously someone cannot afford a car, and/or they may have a more direct route to work via public trans, thereby eliminated the hours you are on the “road.” Also, a lot of companies will pay for their employees to have public trans card. I worked at a company in Seattle that was like that. But to use the pass for work would take hours out of my day. I did, however, use it on the weekends when I had a direct route to downtown for movies and shopping. It saved me tons of money in parking. So I guess it just depends. LA’s system is notoriously bad.
My husband and I used to commute about 3 hours a day when in Seoul. First one bus, then another bus, then a final bus on the first leg of the trip. Sometimes we would walk the first or third leg if we had time just to breathe the fresh smog air.
As you mentioned, the beauty of this kind of commuting is the internet. I wish we would have had that when we were bussing around. Instead we read…A LOT. Actually, it was really nice to have the time to read so much.
Whatever decision you make I wish you luck with your commute!
Living in New York, mass transit is definitely a part of our lives, and I personally love using it. When I work in the city, my commute is about 45 minutes on the train and I use the time to read and get work done. I would never get that much accomplished if I was driving.
I live and work in the suburbs, so no use of public transit for me. We have a light rail project going on here too ATM. Most people take public transit downtown because parking is so expensive downtown. Going suburb to suburb you don’t have to worry about that so the savings would be minimal. I think environmental concerns are also a consideration, but not the only one.
I have never lived in a place where mass transit made sense for a daily commute, but I loved taking the trains and subways in the Boston metro to save the hassle of parking at large events. I love the option, but I’d probably never use it now that we have kids – time at home is much more valuable.
If I was working in NYC I would without a doubt use mass transit. When I lived in Montreal it would have taken me two hours to commute to work to my former employer versus a 25 minute drive each way so that was a no-brainer.
athriftyyankee I think the whole sleeping-in issue is a big one. I’d have to get up quite a bit earlier to use public transit, at least if I want to get to work at the same time as I currently do.
SenseofCents 2 hours for a 15 minute commute? That’s kind of an insane difference imo. Granted I can get to work in 30 minutes and it would take 2 hours using public transit. The ticket situation sounds crazy. I would never ride public transit again! In Minnesota you pay before you board, though, so you don’t have a physical ticket showing that you paid.
Laurie TheFrugalFarmer Oh that’s a great deal for your Dad! Even if you aren’t a vet, the transit system is highly subsidized. Rural people really lose out on public transit imo.
Beachbudget One thing that is attractive about public transit here is that you can use internet while riding. With light rail there are less transfers, too, so you can kind of “settle in” for the ride.
tesolifestyle Wow Seoul, would love to hear more about your time there. Reading is always good, but with my side hustles I NEED to make time for them. Public transit might be a way to do that.
blonde_finance I think it’s great that New York has such a great public transit system. Without one it would be nearly impossible to get around. I hope one day I can trade my commuting time for productive working time.
debt debs The amazing thing about the light rail being built here is that you can pretty efficiently go suburb-to-suburb. That simply wasn’t possible in the past with public transit.
indebtedmom Bringing kids into the equation definitely would change things. Having a side hustle is tough, though, without being able to make efficient use of your time. A commute is a big time-sucker for some people (like me) and being able to transform that into productive time is a big win.
Kassandra @ More Than Just Money That’s the biggest issue with public transit: time. The bus or rail is always stopping to pick up and drop off people, so it makes for a slow commute.
I used to have a 45 min train commute which I used to read, work, watch movies, sleep some more… It was much more relaxing than driving, and cheaper as my employer refunded 50% of the monthly pass. If you have wifi, even better!
I fall in to the work downtown category in Chicago so the public transportation is a no-brainer for me. Based on my experience with Chicago transit is there will be a monthly pass that eliminates the higher cost of public transport, especially if you live in the city. A monthly pass here is $100, where as the pass that is from the suburbs is more costly but once you know your commute it’s easier and far less expensive, plus imagine the snow days and times you hit rush hour, it will be worth it.
My husband always took the public transport in Sofia, but here it hasn’t been a great option for us. We live in the burbs but very close to a train stop for downtown Philly. Unfortunately, it is costly, and then there’s the hour wait if you miss the train by a few minutes. There’s lousy options in the burbs, unfortunately.
Where I used to live, mass transit was pretty much non-existent, so it never crossed my mind. About the only things we had were buses to major places. Where I am now has a light rail, but I’m in the same situation as you: it hasn’t reached our town yet. I believe they’re working on it. The commute into the city from where we are isn’t horrendous, but I have no clue what parking is like!
I’m new to the NYC area, but I’ve already found that $2.50 per ride adds up faster than I expected. Even so, I don’t think I’d like having a vehicle here. The traffic, the tolls, and parking would all be frustrating at times. It’s really about figuring out what your priorities are. Like you said, could you use the extra time to work while riding the train or does getting there faster add more value to your day? Those are all good things to consider!
In good ole Cleveland Ohio, at least in the suburb where I live, we do not have public transit. I wish we did have a subway system though!
RFIndependence They are building the new light rail station RIGHT next to my work, so I hope they try to use it to their advantage by offering employee discounts!
EvenStevenMoney Great point about the winter commute! My commute can easily triple during a snowfall. Even if I don’t use light rail every single day, I can still use it on days where the commute will be terrible.
TheWriteBudget That’s been a big problem that I think Minneapolis-St. Paul has been trying to solve. Some argue – and I see their point – that we are over-investing in public transit. I can now catch a bus every 15 minutes down the road that brings me to the light rail, which comes every 15-20 minutes. The hour-long wait sounds terrible.
BudgetAndTheBees It’s a really tough choice! The morning I am all about driving myself because I can leave early enough to avoid most traffic. The afternoon is another story. Unfortunately I can’t do one in the morning and a different option in the evening!
theFinancegirl I wonder if that will change over time. Minneapolis-St. Paul suburbs have been opening up more and more park-and-rides as well as options like the light rail. It’s becoming more popular, and it better continue to be more and more popular or the State will lose a ton of money on it.
JourneytoSaving I think a lot of people haven’t been given the option yet to take a more desirable form of public transit – like a light rail – so they haven’t really considered whether they would take it or not.
You can buy a monthly, all you can eat pass, at a large discount. Some employers subsidize the pass, and you get pre-tax deductions.
I know one person that only pays $46, pretax, for a MN bus/train pass.
But, the actual cost to the taxpayers is MUCH higher…
If I worked downtown, and I have in the past, I would bus/train it. Of course, I get 100% free passes being a disabled vet.
I would love to have a public transportation option, but I probably would pass if it added an hour or more to my day. Someday, I will live in a place where I can walk to whatever I need, but that’s not today!
I currently take public transport here in Sydney, Aus. There really is no other way for me, working in the CBD and driving there would take being conversative about an hour. This would be for about a 15 – 20 km drive due to the traffic.. It may not actually be that bad but it takes me 30 mins by train (I live 5 mins walk from the station) as for costs it is $8 return for the train and we have a system where once you’ve made 4 return trips you get the 5th free, so costs me ~$32 a week..
If I drove it would probably cost me this for one day after you factor in parking, fuel and car maintainence costs.. Plus I don’t have to think about focusing on driving and can read, listen to podcasts etc..
Shame you don’t have better public transport options in Minnisotta and wow this is a long comment haha
When I lived in Chicago, I loved public transportation- It was much more convienant than having your own car! It was also super relaxing and gave me time to read, do hw or surf the web. Now that I live in the MN burbs, public isn’t really an option for my commute! Atleast not yet : )
BudgetforMore That’s great! But yeah, it seems like the MN suburbs are really starting to invest in public transit, so maybe that will be an option for you down the road.
Eyesonthedollar It’s a trade-off. If your commute is already 45 minutes to an hour, adding an additional hour but being able to use the internet and be productive for the ENTIRE commute just might be worth it…at least that’s what I’m struggling to decide right now.
Public transit in NYC is excellent. It’s like $112 unlimited subway/bus travel…and you can transfer between subways/buses. It doesn’t make sense to drive into the city here because of traffic and there is no parking anyway. I drive because I commute out to Long Island where the commuter rail doesn’t make sense for me. It would cost over $20 roundtrip, but I’d have a hard time getting from the station to my office (cab costs like $7 and bus schedule is kinda crazy). Maybe I can bike it…not in the winter though.
My husband commuted from NJ to NYC everyday for 10 years. It’s really the most economical way to get into the city so for him it was totally worth it. He later found a job in NJ so we bought a car for him but now he may end up back in NYC so we’ll have to see what we end up doing with the second car. It’s definitely not worth it to drive into NYC everyday. It’s just too expensive.
mycareercrusade Thanks for sharing your experiences in Sydney. That’s crazy how much faster public transit is! Sounds a lot more convenient for you as well. And yes, that is a long comment but I appreciate it!
Andrew LivingRichCheaply Hmm I’d be interested in hearing how subsidized the subway/bus is in NYC. It’s pretty heavily subsidized here in Minnesota, but I know they are assuming that the ridership of the light rail will increase over time as people start to build businesses and housing around it.
Practical Cents It would be really interesting to see statistics on how many people travel from NJ to NYC for work – it has to be a ton. Public transit is interesting because there are only so many situations where it makes sense.
No Nonsense Landlord Hmm I haven’t heard about the flat monthly fee pass. I have heard of it in other cities but not one that works with the new light rail system here.
DC @ Young Adult Money No Nonsense Landlord
There is a 31 day pass. For a $2.25 pass, it’s $85 per month. And you can transfer from the three different bus/train combos, you do not need a new fare each leg.
So, with transfers, it’s only $2.25 each way, not $6.75.
http://www.metrotransit.org/go-to-card
But unless you are on an express bus, it’s a big hassle. Find a park and ride.
No Nonsense Landlord DC @ Young Adult Money Thanks for sharing. The bus literally only a few houses down would take me straight to the light rail (and the bus runs every 15 or 20 minutes). The light rail will stop right near my work building. So not many transfers at all. I’ll for sure give it a try a couple times and look into getting the pass. Seems like a great deal!
Public transit where I live is a joke. We’ve looked into it a few times, as we’re a one-car family, but it’s just no do-able. When my fiance starts his new job, it’s out off the highway so there is no possibility of public transportation at all. Even riding his bike during the nice months will be dangerous. At his current job, in order for him to get to work for 9am with public transportation, he’d have to leave the night before and spend the night at the downtown bus depot! How ridiculous is that?!