Carpooling vs Public Transportation

I'm pretty late linking to the Saved Quarter Challenge : Saving on Transportation but I've been meaning to post this up =) It's a great way to save money!

Linking to The saved Quarter Challenge : Week 8

As much as I love my job, everyday is just another repeat. I have a 3-4 hour commute to work every weekday. It's a pain. It's a big dent. I HATE IT. Bay Area traffic is so not my BFF. I don't have the opportunity to relocate to a closer branch anytime soon, so I just need to roll with the punches.

Luckily, I'm not the only one who does the daily East Bay to San Francisco commute. In fact, there's a lot of people in our building that commute to scrape a few extra dollars/hour. After getting to know people, I found someone I was "compatible" with. We've been carpooling for more than 3 years! He's become a very close family friend & his wife became my best friend. I've tried carpooling with other people when I worked in San Francisco - and that didn't turn too good. They didn't share the cost of gas right or they complained wayyy too much. I can't tolerate complainers.

Three years ago, I didn't cook much. That changed when I started carpooling with Al. He's an avid cooker-faux chef. He's got recipes, tricks & techniques to share. Being "stuck" in commute together allowed me to pick his brains and come up with meals & menu plans. Sure, I could have learned how to cook watching Food Network, but it's nice to have a coach. We've had plenty of couples nights where we'd alternate cooking for each other. I always have a blast! Friends, Family & Food =) We all started snowboarding together & go on trips together & vent about work (because we both understand & know who we talk about) It's pretty therapeutic. I rarely need to vent with the Hubbs. He's pretty thankful, he hated coming home with work problems.

For the sake of showing you the cost comparison, I whipped up a nice little google spreadsheet. In the bay area, we have the option of taking BART - our Public Intra-County Subway. There are other methods of transportation, i.e. taking the Ferry, Rapid Busses, VanPools etc. I haven't looked into the other options since most weren't as convenient as BART. We live 5 minutes away from a station & work is about a 20 minute hike up a steep hill. Here's my spreadsheet =)




I can go on and on about why I hate driving alone, but I'd like to share some Pro's and Con's:

Bart PRO:

* You don't drive. Someone else does it for you
* You can sleep (with shades on)
* You can read a book, listen to your ipod, watch videos, surf the net on your cellphone
* You can do your makeup. I don't do this, but I see a lot of ladies do it. It's an attention getter . . I'd like to hide behind my shades.
* Bart Passes! They're electric now.
* Commuter Check Rebates from work. Some offer this, some don't.

Bart CON:

* You're stuck on their schedule. There's no fooling around here.
* If you snooze & miss your train, you're LATE.
* If it rains & you're underprepared, you're screwed.
* You can get stuck. I always listen to the radio. There have been plenty of times when BART was running late or a train is stuck somewhere for hours!
* If you're in the middle of the route, you rarely get any seats - so you'd have to squish with everyone during rush hour
* You never know who you're going to sit next to. I've been there. . bums, theives, smelly people, sweaty people, snoring & drooling people . .EEW!
* You snooze, you loose (your wallet, your phone, your bag etc. PICKPOCKETERS. . .)
* If you forget something on the train, consider it gone.
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Bart isn't as convenient as other public transit - like NYC's metro.
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Bart runs about every 20 minutes during rush hour. Not like NYC, was it every 5 minutes?
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You can hop trains, but it isn't like (you guessed it) NYC. They don't intersect much. You're Sometimes better off staying in the train you got in.
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You can't eat/drink. You can, but Please be respectful. The smell of burritos can make other people hungry, nauseated, etc. Plus, you don't want the train driver calling you out.
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Public restrooms HIGHLY discouraged. You're gonna have to hold it!



Carpooling PRO:

* The money saved!
* Faster commute with the use of carpool lanes
* Carpool Toll Discount
* Building friendly relationships with carpoolers
* Sharing stories
* Aquiring new ideas
* Sharing food =) - Car snacks are a must in my carpool.
* Someone to talk to thru the traffic
* Just someone to be there when you drive
* Employer sponsored Carpool rebates
* You control your schedule. You can drive slower, or faster.
* If you forget something in your car, it will still be in your car.


Carpooling CON:

* It's hard to trust & find someone
* You have CAR OCD - you have to deal with the other person's sloppiness
* Awkwardness
* You can't talk on the phone
* Your time becomes their time too
* Careful with the attitude! If you're not a people person, then this isn't for you.
* You can still get stuck in traffic.
* The wear & tear on your car vs taking public transportation
* Shared lunches too? I take my lunch alone, and my carpool packs his lunch. We have free time
* Inability to run some errands after work - unless it's somewhere you want to bring your carpool too
* More likely to get into an accident vs taking public transportation

Hope this helps!