[RP TownTalk] MARC - Metro commuting cost comparisons

Tue Aug 9 16:01:04 UTC 2016

WOW!! thanks for the detail Dwight!
When I was at crystal city, I took metro, usually before peak fares
kicked in most days but I never looked at the total cost because the
parking option was just too expensive to even consider and worsened by
the time in traffic.

Public transit is a great option compared to car if one has that option,
strictly my opinion when services run as normal as they can despite
driving requiring half the time in the AM, and 4x in the PM coming home.

Thanks again!!
bob smith

On 8/8/16 11:46 PM, Dwight Holmes wrote:
> The recent discussion of MARC & Metro commuting options motivated me to
> update my cost-comparison spreadsheet.  It's been about 10 years since I
> did this.  All fares and parking fees have gone up in the meantime, so
> it was good to have a reason to do this.
> 
> Executive summary: Using the MARC, I can get to my destination of
> Farragut North for anywhere from $6.75/day up to $11.05/day.  Using
> Metro from Prince George's Plaza, it will cost me from $7.00 up to
> $11.60/day. (All of those prices are full-fare costs. I don't pay that
> much, because I save money by using the Federal tax subsidies available
> through my employer, but that doesn't affect the relative costs - it
> will reduce MARC and/or Metro costs by the same percentage).
> 
> How did I get those numbers? and what do the variations in cost depend
> on? Read on.
> 
> First of all, I should confess that I'm a big MARC booster. I believe
> it's one of Riverdale Park's greatest assets. They even allow you to eat
> and drink - yes, including alcohol - on the train. Try that on the
> Metro!  It may or may not be cheaper for you to take the MARC, but if
> your destination is either near Capitol Hill (so you can walk from Union
> Station) or on the Red Line (no transfer needed on the Metro), it's
> pretty sure to make for a quicker trip.  It takes just 10 minutes
> between Riverdale and Union Station on the MARC.  Add on the time to
> transfer to the Red Line and ride to my daily destination, Farragut
> North, it's still anywhere from 15-20 minutes quicker for me on a
> typical day by MARC and Metro than it is by Bus + Metro.
> 
> My biases aside, I will be as accurate as I can be here in attempting to
> answer the question, which is the most economical way to commute, MARC
> or Metro? First answer: It's complicated!.
> 
> Complicated, in part, because the choice just isn't that simple.  
> 
> How do you get to the MARC or Metro station? Walk? Bike? Bus? Drive and
> park?  All of these choices affect your daily commute cost. We will see
> that parking or not - and whether you use a monthly parking pass or pay
> daily rates - is probably the biggest factor in determining what the
> answer to our question is for you.
> 
> How many days do you commute in to work? With teleworking becoming a
> bigger and bigger part of many people's work lives, this is a relevant
> question - and also plays a big part in determining your answer to the
> question.  MARC monthly passes cost the equivalent of 27 one-way trips,
> or 13 1/2 days of round-trip commutes.  Your daily cost will, obviously,
> vary depending on whether you commute, say, 3, 4 or 5 days a week. 
> Metro commuting isn't normally affected by that factor (unless you
> purchase a monthly Metro Parking pass - see below).
> 
> Enough about the complications. Let's try to keep it somewhat simple in
> order to show the range of options.  I'm going to pick my destination of
> Farragut North to use as an example.
> 
> I walk to the MARC station, and use a monthly pass to ride the MARC to
> Union Station. (Driving and parking adds nothing to your cost other than
> gas and wear and tear on your car and the planet, since you can park at
> the MARC station for free). If I commute 20 days/month, that's a cost of
> $6.75 per day (per round-trip commute). I do take the Metro from Union
> Station to Farragut North most days ($2.15 each way x 2 = $4.30) for a
> total of $11.05 per day.  But some days I take the 80 Metrobus from
> Union Station, which is free when I show my MARC monthly pass. (It takes
> about 10 minutes longer) So that keeps the total cost at $6.75 per day. 
> I would offer that's the cheapest, practical way to get to work downtown
> (unless you want to commute by bike - more power to you!) You can't beat
> $6.75 per day by taking Metro only, nor even by driving (unless your
> employer pays for your parking!).
> 
> Now let's look at using Metro only.  And let's say I use Prince George's
> Plaza Metro.  If I walk to the Metro (free) and ride the Green and Red
> Lines to Farragut North, during rush hour, the one-way fare is $3.50
> making for a round-trip daily cost of $7.00.  If I'm lazy (I am) and
> decide to take the F4 bus to and from the Metro, add $1.25 each way
> (transfer fare), bringing the total to $9.50 per day. (Using the 14 The
> Bus instead would save me a dollar per day, so $8.50) 
> 
> Another choice is to drive and park at the Metro.  If I buy a monthly
> pass (which used to have long waiting lists, not sure if that's true
> anymore), that adds $65/month. With my same assumption of 20 commutes
> per month, that comes to $3.25 day, added to the $7 Metro fare brings it
> to $10.25.  But if I pay at the daily rate of $4.60, my total is $11.60.
> 
> So the choice of monthly parking pass versus daily parking rate will
> determine the cheaper option, if the alternative is riding the
> MARC+Metro to Farragut North.  The MARC+Metro option is $11.05.  With
> daily parking, the all-Metro option is $11.60, but if you get a monthly
> parking pass and commute 20 times a month, your daily cost is brought
> down to $10.25.  (Commuting less often than 20 times a month will make
> the daily cost of Parking+Metro /and/ riding the MARC both more expensive).
> 
> In the spreadsheet linked to below, I've got various options for
> Riverdale to Union Station, L'Enfant Plaza, Farragut North & Ballston
> utilizing MARC vs Metro (PG Plaza and College Park both), with and
> without parking.
> 
> Here's a link to the messy Excel spreadsheet where I made the
> calculations, if anyone is interested (I think you have to download it
> to your computer rather than read it in Excel Online in order to see the
> cell formulas - but that may just because I don't know what I'm doing!)
> 
> https://1drv.ms/x/s!AoeR_XVs3Fe0hi02XkreNnVzPbcl
> <https://1drv.ms/x/s!AoeR_XVs3Fe0hi02XkreNnVzPbcl>
> 
> 
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