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The light rail between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami (really between West Palm beach to Miami) runs alongside I-95 (the Tri-Rail, named so because of the tri-county
by spc476 11y ago
The light rail between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami (really between West Palm beach to Miami) runs alongside I-95 (the Tri-Rail, named so because of the tri-county area) and that's it for light rail in South Florida. So unless your work is near a Tri-Rail station, or you're willing to transfer to a bus, working just about anywhere doesn't make it work while for most people.
Now, it just so happens that there's a Tri-Rail station right next to the building I work in, and I happen to live less than a mile from a Tri-Rail station. When when I ran the numbers a few years ago, it was still cheaper to drive than to ride the train (mainly because I work from home two days a week). It's not a time factor either---I drive during non-rush hour (a perk of being a programmer) and either way, it takes about the same time to drive as to take the train (I have taken the trip once or twice).
Now that gas prices have plummeted, even if I had to drive into the office five days a week, it would still be cheaper.
That said, there are people in the office that take the train, but they live further from the office than I do and for them, it is cost effective, even if they arrive late to the office about 10% of the time (mostly due to suicides and people stopping on the rails).
- jurip 11y agoI'd guess that in most places, unless there's road tolls, driving is going to be cheaper than public transit if you already have a car. The nice thing about cities is you can make not having a car a viable option.
- alkonaut 11y agoThen the public transit isn't subsidies enough (or vice versa there aren't enough tolls). If anyone would chose car for cost rather than convenience/time, local authorities have failed pretty badly.
- upofadown 11y agoIt's something like $7k a year to run a car. It's something like $2k a year just to leave the car in the garage. So $5k/12=$417 per month. Where in the US does it cost over $400 for a monthly bus/rail pass?
- spacecowboy_lon 11y agoFor information for my 70 mile commute to London my season ticket (not a pass ) is over $500 a Month plus another 70$ for bus/taxis to get to the station
- Fuxy 11y agoThe US public transportation system is severely lacking so there needs to be a very high incentive for people to take it or a disincentive to take the car. Public transportation is by design more inconvenient than taking the car because you have to wait for it and during rush hour be crammed in to a busy train. However if the city has very good and fast public transportation it can still be better than driving the car and being stuck in traffic for hours. London is a good example if public transportation done right. I can get anywhere by underground and bus way faster than you can with a car.
- wolfgke 11y ago> Public transportation is by design more inconvenient than taking the car because you have to wait for it and during rush hour be crammed in to a busy train. You can work in the train but not while driving.
- throwaway049 11y agoThe majority of people on my commuter train are obliged to stand, and those that have seats don't have tables nor enough elbow room to do much laptop or even tablet work.
- wolfgke 11y agoI have already read math papers while standing in the tram. Not comfortable but possible (the same would, of course, hold for a train). Also depending on the type of train it can be possible to answer emails on your mobile phone while standing (I don't own a mobile phone but have seen people doing that). Not all kind of work is done on a laptop or tablet. It can also be reading texts, checking emails etc. (of course you will try to optimize your schedule accordingly).
- ekianjo 11y ago> You can work in the train but not while driving. I recommend you get a reality check in the Tokyo metro at peak hour. Maybe you'll change your mind.