Calculating transit's value

The American Public Transportation Association is out with a new report that details the personal savings pocketed by transit riders.

"According to APTA’s “Monthly Transit Savings Report” a person can save an average of $672 dollars per month based on today’s gas price of $3.909 as reported by AAA. The savings are more than the average household pays for food in a year."

You can calculate your savings at www.publictransportation.org.

My former commute to midtown -- 22 miles roundtrip, free parking at work (a benefit I think should be taxed), a minivan with an mpg of 20 (best case scenario, but not realistic) -- calculates a savings of just $262.70 for the year if I were to pay Sacramento Regional Transit full fare.

Of course, the monthly pass can bring the savings up, but it is easy to see why people who weigh just the cost of gasoline to get from home to work and back don't see Sacramento Regional Transit as an especially good value. When RT raises fares next year, which appears unavoidable, it will be even less attractive.