Re: Cityrail fare rises suck

[zebee@zip.com.au (Zebee Johnstone)]

In aus.transport on 2 Aug 1999 11:31:46 +1000
C. Dewick <craigd@lios.apana.org.au> wrote:
>And how much in a *real* sense does the equivalent car trip cost you? Much,
>much more when you take road taxes, fuel taxes, wear and tear on the car,
>mainenance and repair costs, licence and rego costs, etc.... Trains are

Hmm..  commuting about 40km round trip to work, 5 days a week, 48
weeks a year, say 10,000km commute a year.

depreciation - zero, my Moto Guzzi 850T will get me about what I
bought it for no matter the mileage as long as it's running and 
not badly smashed up.

tyres = $150 a year or so.  one rear, half a front.  A bit more if
I go to Melbourne more than once a year. so that's 1.5c per km, or 60c
per round trip.

rego  = $600 a year, but it's going down so say $500. 5c/km. $2 a trip
to work.

maintenance = do all my own work, so it's about ohh...  $10 for oil
every 4000km. .25c/km = 10c per trip.  let;s add another $50/year for
cables, unijoint every 6 years and so on. = .5c/km - so total is 30c
per round trip.

fuel = round town about 15km/l, say 72c/l for super...4.8c/km.
$1.92 per round trip.

Parking - free.

Now, if I didn't have the bike *at all* then I couldn't do other
trips - holidays to Melbourne, weekend shopping, off to SCa events,
so on.  So rego doesn't count because I would still have the bike.

SO we have 
60c+30c+1.92 = $2.82 per round trip to work.  Takes me about 30
minutes.

A single bus fare costs me $4.00 each way, so that's $8 per trip.
Takes over an hour.
Orange travel 10 brings it down to $3.40 each way, a green travelpass
down to $3.30 each way although the travel pass offers extra
transport on weekends.

For this motorcycle owner, public transport doesn't add up!

I do use it sometimes, I usually take the train into the city on 
weekends so I don't have to carry a helmet about.  I also often use
buses or trains when I'm with someone who doesn't have a car
or a bike helmet/gear.

But I can't see any reason why I should spend up to 40%
more in cash and twice the amount in time to use a bus when my 
bike does very nicely thank you!

If I didn't need the bike for other things, the incentive
would change of course.   But a trip to Melbourne is cheaper on
the bike than by plane, and (i know from experience) far more
comfortable and stress free than by bus.

Note also that if I have a passenger the
numbers change very dramatically indeed!  Two people on a  bike may
incread a 40km trip cost by one or two cents.  The public transport
cost doubles.


Zebee