Driving Versus Public Transportation

Timothy Moore

Eng 135

Driving versus Public Transportation

It’s 8:37 a.m. and you’re sitting in the far left lane of the Dan Ryan drinking your Tall Caramel Macchiato. An angry lady in a Toyota Accent flashes her high beams at you because traffic just moved up two spots and you’re still sitting there. As you lean your head over to the side, wondering why you decided to drive to school, today, yet again a glimmer of headlights blinds you in your side view mirror. You look up; it’s the Chicago Transit Authority Red Line train streaking past you. That’s when it hits you, “I should have used public transportation”. Although driving your vehicle may seems to gives you the freedom to drive wherever you want without limits, public transportation is cost effective, shortens commuting time and helps save the environment.

Cost

My vehicle, for example, is a 2007 Nissan Altima that’s reliable and gets me where I need to go, but the cost of gas and maintenance for my car is $200 per month which is way more than taking the “L”. This price also includes oil changes, brakes, transmission, etc. Parking in public places, if not free, will run about $8 - $10 a day. Every month I spend up to $200 dollars maintaining my car, not including repairs. On the other hand a lot of money can be saved by using public transportation. One way is $2.00 by bus and $2.25 by rail, but if there is a need to commute every day the best plan is to purchase a monthly pass which is $86 dollars. For my vehicle it take around $42 - $46 dollars every 1 ½ week to fill. So that’s about $ 84 dollars per month in gas when I can spend 2 more dollars and get a monthly pass. If I figure this out correctly, I would average $82 dollars every month and $984 within a year. The winner so far would be public transportation just by saving.

Convenience: Cutting the commute time

With public transportation, take into consideration being in a confined space with others. Weather conditions and...