Canadian Personal Finance Blog

Archive for August 11th, 2009

Mass Transit?

That is one of the big questions I have to think about given my new appointment.

In my previous job, there really was no reason to take the bus because:

• It took 4 times the time to take the bus as it did in a car
• The Bus did not run often enough and did not cover the times I might need to come and go to work
• Parking for my car was free

Variable Changes

With my new position the financial variables have changed and it now I might again look at the transit equation again:

• Parking now costs money no matter where I put my car (varying costs but none are very cheap).
• The amount of time to get to work by car is now only 1/2 the estimated bus time
• The transit tax write off comes into the equation as well

To bus or not to bus, that will be the question, but for now I will drive.

Biking?

That is another interesting point to consider for this trip. Straight biking to work while excellent for the health can be dangerous in traffic (some of the route has bike paths but not all of it), and I am not sure whether there are showers at work (I do sweat a great deal). The electronic bike is an interesting idea I have been looking at, but whether I can recharge at work is another interesting question to think about.

Car Pooling?

I do know someone at my new job who I might be able to car pool with, which might be an excellent choice as well. I have previously car pooled which works well if the people car pooling all work the same hours, which can be tricky, but the more interesting question is how do you arrange to compensate folks for car pools? Anybody with any ideas, please feel free to post them.