April is Earth Month, a celebration and discussion of ways we can make our everyday lives more sustainable, ensuring that our world and natural resources are here for many more years. One of those ways is taking public transit, which plays a significant role in environmental sustainability. But what role does it play in the sustainability of your wallet?
Let’s compare the options we have in Indy and find out how much savings you can rack up by choosing to go car free. Our car ownership figures are averages based on a survey of Indy residents who live, drive, take transit and work in Indy.
Driving Your Own Car:
- You have to buy one: $200/month x 12 = $2400
- You have to pay for insurance: $80/month x 12 = $960
- You have to pay state registration fees: $200/year
- You have to pay for oil changes: $60/bi-monthly x 6 = $360
- You have to pay for maintenance: $30/month x 12 = $360
- You have to buy gas: An average car gets 21 mpg at say $2.31/gallon which is $.11/mile. If you commute five days a week for 10 miles one way, you’ll end up paying $572/year
- Total: $4,852/year
Using Indy’s Many Multi-Modal Transit Options:
- Monthly IndyGo Bus Pass: $60/month = $720
- Pacers Bikeshare Membership: $80/year
- Uber/Lyft Rideshare (You might need to get somewhere in an emergency or after IndyGo’s buses stop running): $50/month = $600
- Total: $1,400/year
The total average savings by using Indy’s transit options vs. owning a car = $3,452/year!
By choosing to go car free you could take a vacation, pay a down payment on a house or buy some really nice season tickets to the Pacers! So why not give going car free a shot? Even just reducing your drive time will cut your costs on oil, maintenance and gas and increase the time you have to text, read or get work done during your commute.
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