[RP TownTalk] Update on the MARC vs Metro comparison: MARC+Unlimited Metro monthly pass

[Dwight Holmes]

I've now included information on the MARC "Transit Link" pass that gives
you unlimited
MARC rides from Riverdale or College Park to Union Station + Unlimited
Metro rides for $249/month ($12.45 day for 20 commutes/month).
***
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?  What time do you travel? (All estimates here assume rush hour fares
on Metro - you save money if you travel outside of Metro's rush hour times,
i.e., between 9:30 am - 3 p.m., or after 7 p.m.) 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).

Finally, there is one way to save if your commuting destination is
Clarendon, or further away. MARC sells a monthly MARC+Unlimited Metro pass.
For Riverdale/College Park, the cost is $249 per month, which works out to
$12.45 per day if you commute 20 days/month. That is exactly what it costs
with a regular monthly MARC pass, and usual rush hour Metro fares. So
Clarendon is the break-even point for that pass - closer in, you're not
saving, further out, and you do save.  Of course, again, if you don't
travel at rush hour, your normal cost would be less. And if you commute
less often than 20 days/month, your daily cost for use of the pass would be
higher. Then again, if you also use Metro on a regular basis for things
other than your commute, then you could pile up some significant savings
this way.  Everybody's mileage is going to vary.

In the spreadsheet linked to below, I've got various options for Riverdale
to Union Station, L'Enfant Plaza, Farragut North, Clarendon & 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
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