4 ms·

DC's system is pretty bad too. this morning I had to choose between a 50 minute commute via metro for $4, or a 20 minute Uber ride for $10. I'm so so glad I got

DC's system is pretty bad too. this morning I had to choose between a 50 minute commute via metro for $4, or a 20 minute Uber ride for $10. I'm so so glad I got the Uber.

t3po7re5 9y ago
Same here it's either $12 for a total commute of 2+ hrs via metro, or $3 to drive for a total of just over an hour.
- zzzzzzzza 9y ago
  wait you paid 3 dollars for an hour of uber? How does that make sense? The minimum wage is way more than that.
  - dionidium 9y ago
    Maybe he's saying that he drove himself for $3 in gas (while conveniently ignoring all the other costs of car ownership, not to mention the massive externalities).
    - cuckmaster 9y ago
      But since the government subsidizes both the $3 ain't so bad
    - vinay427 9y ago
      It's reasonable that if GP needs and already has a car for other non-commuting purposes (shopping, road trips, etc.) the choice in their specific case is between paying for public transit and only paying for gas to cover the commute.
      - dionidium 9y ago
        I understand what you're saying; it's just not a reasonable way to perform a complete or useful cost analysis.
      - StudentStuff 9y ago
        Cost of insurance and wear & tear are direct costs of each trip outside gas, not including those (which is ~50% of the cost of each trip) is deceiving yourself.
    - t3po7re5 9y ago
      Yep, sorry forgot to mention its roughly $3 in gas / oil and maybe $3 in depreciation of the vehicle?
dionidium 9y ago
That's a nice option, indeed, and as long as Silicon Valley insists on subsidizing the private transit desires of the upper-middle class, you should definitely take advantage of it. But 1) you're not really paying full freight here; and 2) $20 per day round-trip is not an affordable commuting option for most Americans, anyway.
TheCoelacanth 9y ago
Sunday is pretty much the worst day of the week to use metro because it has the lowest number of people trying to get places, so the metro is frequently running degraded service to allow for extra maintenance, and there is much less traffic to slow down an Uber. I would pretty much never consider taking an Uber over taking the metro from 7am-7pm on weekdays because it would invariably be slower and more expensive.
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rhino369 9y ago
I make the same choice and it is ridiculous. I live a block from a station and work from a block from another station on the same line. And somehow average commute time is 45 min. And it's only ~4 miles away. Lyft costs under 10 bucks and takes under 15 minutes if I leave after 9:45.
- francisofascii 9y ago
  Metro has its problems but avg. commute time of 45 min. for 4 miles seems high to me. Unless you mean Bethesda to Silver Spring.
  - dajohnson89 9y ago
    For example, take Columbia Heights to Foggy Bottom. 2 transfers (yellow/green -> red -> blue/orange/silver). Red line is red line, expect 10 minutes on the weekends if you're lucky. The B/O/S at metro center are frequent enough (except when they're not; I've seen 20minute headways enough times that I'm leery of even trying), but the Green/Yellow lines I see an average wait time of 10-12 minutes on the weekends. That's about 20-30 minutes of waiting.

DC's system is pretty bad too. this morning I had to choose between a 50 minute commute via metro for $4, or a 20 minute Uber ride for $10. I'm so so glad I got the Uber.

t3po7re5 9y ago

Same here it's either $12 for a total commute of 2+ hrs via metro, or $3 to drive for a total of just over an hour.

zzzzzzzza 9y ago
wait you paid 3 dollars for an hour of uber? How does that make sense? The minimum wage is way more than that.
- dionidium 9y ago
  Maybe he's saying that he drove himself for $3 in gas (while conveniently ignoring all the other costs of car ownership, not to mention the massive externalities).
  - cuckmaster 9y ago
    But since the government subsidizes both the $3 ain't so bad
  - vinay427 9y ago
    It's reasonable that if GP needs and already has a car for other non-commuting purposes (shopping, road trips, etc.) the choice in their specific case is between paying for public transit and only paying for gas to cover the commute.
    - dionidium 9y ago
      I understand what you're saying; it's just not a reasonable way to perform a complete or useful cost analysis.
    - StudentStuff 9y ago
      Cost of insurance and wear & tear are direct costs of each trip outside gas, not including those (which is ~50% of the cost of each trip) is deceiving yourself.
  - t3po7re5 9y ago
    Yep, sorry forgot to mention its roughly $3 in gas / oil and maybe $3 in depreciation of the vehicle?

dionidium 9y ago

That's a nice option, indeed, and as long as Silicon Valley insists on subsidizing the private transit desires of the upper-middle class, you should definitely take advantage of it. But 1) you're not really paying full freight here; and 2) $20 per day round-trip is not an affordable commuting option for most Americans, anyway.

TheCoelacanth 9y ago

Sunday is pretty much the worst day of the week to use metro because it has the lowest number of people trying to get places, so the metro is frequently running degraded service to allow for extra maintenance, and there is much less traffic to slow down an Uber. I would pretty much never consider taking an Uber over taking the metro from 7am-7pm on weekdays because it would invariably be slower and more expensive.

deleted 9y ago

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rhino369 9y ago

I make the same choice and it is ridiculous. I live a block from a station and work from a block from another station on the same line. And somehow average commute time is 45 min. And it's only ~4 miles away. Lyft costs under 10 bucks and takes under 15 minutes if I leave after 9:45.

francisofascii 9y ago
Metro has its problems but avg. commute time of 45 min. for 4 miles seems high to me. Unless you mean Bethesda to Silver Spring.
- dajohnson89 9y ago
  For example, take Columbia Heights to Foggy Bottom. 2 transfers (yellow/green -> red -> blue/orange/silver). Red line is red line, expect 10 minutes on the weekends if you're lucky. The B/O/S at metro center are frequent enough (except when they're not; I've seen 20minute headways enough times that I'm leery of even trying), but the Green/Yellow lines I see an average wait time of 10-12 minutes on the weekends. That's about 20-30 minutes of waiting.