Commute Calculator Roundup

Don't miss the roundup of commute-calculating tools in today's Seattle Times:

Does the rising price of gas have you contemplating parking the car and hopping on the bus to get around?

Metro Transit says its online "commute calculator" — transit.metrokc.gov/tops/bus/calculator.html — can help you figure out whether you'd save money by taking the bus, and if so, how much.

The calculator requires you to plug the right numbers into the right boxes. It asks the number of miles you travel round-trip to work (there's a Mapquest link to help you figure that out), and what you typically spend for parking and gas. Then the calculator compares your total to the cost of paying cash fares on Metro at different times of the day and in different parts of King County.

But there are other considerations not calculated by the online calculator...
...
Metro also has an online trip planner — tripplanner.metrokc.gov — which can help you plot a bus trip from Point A to Point B that's either the quickest or has the fewest transfers or the least amount of walking. But on occasion, the trip planner can trip you up.

It's not too surprising that online calculators for commute alternatives are somewhat lacking. I think it's really an issue of demand. When most people decide how they are going to commute, convenience, not cost is the primary consideration. In fact, I'd say cost barely even registers as part of the equation. The main point of the online cost calculator is really just to make you feel good about a decision you've already made. Hey, there's nothing wrong with that. I'll be saving over $700 this year by riding my electric bicycle to work just 60% of the time. And that feels pretty good.

(Charles E. Brown, Seattle Times, 05.08.2006)