Most days I take the bus downtown to work. Yet, yesterday I was running really late, so I decided instead to drive into work. The idea is would save me a little time — at least compared to waiting another 10 minutes for the next bus to come.
And I did get to work a little bit earlier. But I wasn’t happy. I had to fight traffic both in and out of the city, then find an on-street parking spot. While were I park is far enough from the state office buildings and with permit parking to be quite easy, but it still was not a pleasant experience.
You have to drive around the block looking for a spot. Then once you find your spot, you have to get in it, and make sure your in compliance with all of the parking regulations. You check the signs to make sure your on the street the proper day, then look for driveways, crosswalks, and fire hydrants. After a while you get to memorize all of things, but you still want to check.
Alternatively, you can pay $3 and park in a city lot, where they feed the homeless people and winos. Who may spend the day sleeping under your car. Not exactly a great choice. Yes there are other lots, but either they are a lot more expensive, or they require you to pay for a month permit.
Then you spend all day wonder if some drunk driver or stupid city person is going to crash into your truck, while your at work. You get back your truck at night, and then say, thank god, nobody has messed with my truck while at work. And then you drive home.
If your lucky, you get out of work after rush hour. Otherwise, you sit in traffic, while you try to find all of the residential side streets to sneak past the worst of the traffic. But you still sit in traffic. Eventually, you get home, usually just about the time the evening bus stops next to your house.
..You come to conclusion, that despite burning a gallon of gas, and worrying all day, you didn’t realization you didn’t really save much time at all.
I thought some Excel spreadsheets might be of use to you. Obviously, there is a lot besides the cost of gasoline in owning an automobile, but we as a society have a fixation on gas prices, and they seem to effect out behavior a lot.
The Cost to Drive calculator can help you with specific trips.
For many years I have worked downtown and ridden the bus downtown most days. Some days when I have to work late or are planning on heading out of town I drive downtown to work. It’s not a particularly common thing, maybe two or three times a month.
I used to park on the street, but now I park in an Albany Parking Authority lot. Why park in a lot, when one can park on the street? Simple: I don’t want my new truck, “Big Red”, to get hit or damaged, and I figure the back corner of a parking lot is a lot safer. Big Red is also a bitch to park on the street, being so long, even though I am pretty talented at parallel parking it.
It also is a powerful discouragement against car commuting. Somehow it’s more difficult to visualize $4 one burns driving in and out of work, or the wear and tear it means to your car, compared to paying the $3 for the parking lot — a top of the gas and wear and tear.
It makes me pause and think, do I really need to drive into the city? Can avoid it, and all of the pain of driving in the city. I really don’t like the kind of driving that involves stop lights and traffic. I have much to short of a fuse to enjoy such an activity. But so be it.
So at the end of day, I don’t really mind pay for parking, the few times I actually drive downtown. It just another good reminder that driving into the city rarely pays or is necessary with public transit..
Most people do not realize how much time they actually spending in cars, driving around or visiting various places. Most people don’t care to calculate the math, so I did it for you. If these average speeds seem slow to you, remember that when driving you have to stop or slow for stop signs, stop lights, and traffic congestion.
Time Driving
hours per 100 miles
hours per 200 miles
hours per 15,000 miles
hours per 150,000 miles
Average City Miles Per Hour
20
5
10
750
7500
Average Highway Miles Per Hour
45
2.22
4.44
333.33
3333.33
Average Expressway Miles Per Hour
70
1.43
2.86
214.29
2142.86
50% City + Highway Speed
32.5
3.08
6.15
461.54
4615.38
They say the Average American drives something like 15,000 miles per year. If your average speed is 32.5 miles per hour, including delays at stoplights and traffic, that means your spending on average 19 days per year, non-stop driving.
Time Driving
hours per 15,000 miles
days per 15,000 miles
weeks per 15,000 miles
Average City Miles Per Hour
20
750
31
4
Average Highway Miles Per Hour
45
333.33
14
2
Average Expressway Miles Per Hour
70
214.29
9
1
50% City + Highway Speed
32.5
461.54
19
3
In the lifetime of the vehicle, assuming you get 150,000 miles out of it, you will have driven the equalivent of 192 days or 27 weeks straight.
Back when I was in college, I used to drive back and forth between Plattsburgh and Albany a lot. I used to try a variety of routes, some more indirect then others, to see the scenery, especially when I had extra time to burn in the afternoon.
1) Via the Adirondack Northway.
The most direct and quick way is via the Adirondack Northway (I-87) all the way up.
This route is moderately fast. There is some spectular secenry along NY 22 as you head from Whitehall to Ticonderoga, with sweeping views of Lake Champlain.
I quite often would take this route over the old Lake Champlain Bridge when I wanted to visit Burlington. The old bridge was beautiful, as is the landscape after you cross into Vermont. Burlington is an amazingly nice city too.
I used to come back via Burlington some times, by taking VT 22A through the dairy country of southern Vermont. The land is pretty flat, and VT 22A, but there are still some amazing views of the Adirondack Mountains along this route.
