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The following is a paid advertisement for RideSearch.com.
Out here in California where the traffic levels are truly insane and most people can not afford to live near where they work, the cost of commuting is significant.
Take my situation, for instance: I live 43 miles from my office. On the average traffic day, the trip to work takes around 45 minutes. Coming home, it generally takes me an hour. On occasion, the one way trip from work to home can take up to three hours.
I know. That in itself is insane.
But let’s look at the cost of that commute. I drive a Toyota Matrix that averages 30 mpg. The round trip uses 2.8 gallons of gas.
The cheap gas by my house right now is $3.22/gallon. That means the gas alone costs me $9.01 every day.
I cross a toll bridge on the way home. That’s $4/day.
AAA averages the cost of car ownership, including insurance, taxes, maintenance, etc at $.35/mile. That equals $30.10 per day of driving to work.
The grand total: $43.11. PER DAY! The average work month has 20 days in it. Wanna do the math on that one? No? Ok, fine… I’ll do it.
That’s $862.20 per month.
California has a great RideShare system that allows you to connect with people around you that you could carpool with. Sharing the costs of the commute with just one other person cuts your commute costs in half. Add additional people to the carpool, and you can drop it by even more.
If you’re not in California where you can take advantage of RideShare, you can use the new service provided by RideSearch.com. They will get you in touch with people in your area who are looking to help offset the costs of their commute.
I carpooled for a couple of years when I first moved here. It was great not having to drive every day, and having someone to talk to when you’re stuck in a ridiculous traffic jam for two hours is almost priceless.
RideSearch.com offers tons of information on choosing the perfect carpool, how to remain safe, and how to calculate your savings.
Not only can you save money, you can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and for once, you can drive in the HOV lane legally.
