Lower Your Costs « transportation costs made transparent

What is Abogo?

Abogo is a tool that lets you discover how transportation impacts the affordability and sustainability of where you live.

Who Pays for the CTA?

Last week we showed you how your fare gets split into the different parts of the CTA budget. However, your $2.25 doesn’t pay for everything the CTA needs. In fact, fares pay for only about 40% of the $1.3 billion budget. So where does the money come from?

Well over half the money needed to keep [...]
Where does your CTA fare go?

Chicago has the second largest public transit system in the United States. The CTA manages 1,781 buses and 1,200 rail cars covering 224 miles of track to accommodate the more than 1.6 million rides taken per day. Have you ever wondered what fare helps pay for? Well, wonder no longer!

To read more about the [...]
The Future of Oil Means a Future for Location Efficiency

Time Magazine’s cover story this week takes a head-on look at our oil future. In the tightly wound and sometimes muddled piece, we are reminded quite clearly that there is still no substitute for oil, and it remains by far the most heavily used fuel for transportation in this country.
The new kid on the oil [...]

For short trips, leave your car behind and go by foot. Visit www.walkinginfo.org for information about walking safety and encouraging walking in your community.
Choose places you can walk to: type your address into Walk Score to find nearby destinations.

Take your bike: you can cover more distance on a bicycle than on foot, and in traffic biking can be faster than driving. Visit bicyclesafe.com or bicyclinginfo.org to learn more.
Find bike routes, paths, and parking at OpenCycleMap.org.
Get car-free directions with Google Maps. Choose “Walking” or “Bicycling” from the pull-down menu instead of the default “By car”.
Get motivated to exercise: measure a walking or biking route with the Gmaps Pedometer. The calculator will tell you how long your route is, and even how many calories you’ll burn.

Experiment with different ways of getting to work. Try this calculator from publictransportation.org to see how much you can save with transit.
Leave the car at home and plan your trip with Google Transit. It’s as easy as getting driving directions! You can also find this transit trip planner under “Get Directions” at Google Maps.
Ask your employer about public transportation benefits: under federal law, employers can cover up to $230 of your transit expenses tax-free (American Public Transportation Association).
Get a transit pass: according to the American Public Transportation Association, households that regularly use public transportation save more than $8,400 a year.

Join a car-sharing program. If you drive less than 7,500 miles a year and don’t use a car every day, car sharing can save you thousands. Visit www.carsharing.net to learn more.
If you’re in Chicago, join I-GO!
Use this calculator from New Jersey’s Department of Transportation to see how much you could save by walking, biking, or sharing the ride.
Carpool: if you share the driving with just one other person, you’ll reduce your fuel costs by half. And you can use the carpool lane!
Find someone to share the ride with. Use a rideshare matchmaking website like eRideShare.com or Zimride to find a buddy. If you’re in the Denver area, try RideArrangers.
Telecommute: reduce your commute to nothing by working from home.

Reduce the number of cars in your household. By getting rid of a car that you can do without, you could save $5,716 a year (American Public Transportation Association).
Find out the direct and indirect costs of your driving, and see where you can improve, with this calculator from commutesolutions.org.
Before buying a car, calculate its true cost at edmunds.com. This calculator will tell you a car’s cost over time, including maintenance, fuel and insurance.
Review your car’s cost per mile according to AAA to see what you can expect to pay, as well as tips on how to reduce this number.
Reduce your insurance premium, which is likely based in part on your annual mileage. If you reduce your driving, your insurance cost could go down.
Skip rush hour: if you can, adjust your work hours to avoid traffic. The average rush-hour commuter wastes 99 gallons of gas and $1,160 worth of their time each year sitting in traffic (Center for Transportation Excellence).
Use the grade of gas (regular, premium, etc.) that your car’s owner’s manual recommends. Most cars run fine on regular, and so using a higher grade is just a waste of money (Consumer Energy Center).
Browse Commuter Choice’s list of commute-easing alternatives, including resources specific to your own city.

When buying a new car, visit the EPA Green Vehicle Guide to research your most fuel-efficient options.
Slow down on the highway: driving 65 mph instead of 75 mph reduces your fuel cost by 13%. Visit www.fueleconomy.gov for lots more suggestions.
Turn off your car: if you know you’ll be idling for more than a minute, turn off your engine to save gas.
Avoid excessive lane-changing, which can cost you up to 1.5 MPG. Learn more ways to save gas from the Utility Consumers’ Action Network.
For long trips or regular commutes, make sure to drive your most fuel-efficient car.

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