This morning was my last commute into work.
After 6 years of taking the train from Prince George’s Plaza metro to Pentagon City; and before that 8 years of driving between Studio City and Santa Monica, beginning tomorrow, I will be living close enough to work where a commute is not necessary. The new house is 2 miles south of my office. I can walk there in 30 minutes, ride a bike in 10-15 minutes, and drive in 4-5 minutes. None of those can be considered a significant commute.
In the last 6 years, I estimate that I took the train into work roughly 1,320 times. Assuming that I have to return home each evening, that makes for 2,640 trips on metro rail, just for the purposes of commuting to work. In round numbers, and averaging for fare increases, these commutes have cost me roughly $7,920 over 6 years. If we add parking costs, the number goes up to $11,880. My company paid for about $4,680 worth of my commuting costs over 6 years so that my actual cost was about $7,200, or $1200/year, or $100/month. That might sound like a lot, but keep in mind that in all that time, I never had to sit in traffic, and I could make use of my time on the trains to read, sleep, or just relax. And that’s to say nothing of the fact that these days, if I were driving to work, I’d be spending well over $100 month on gasoline alone!
But all of that is over now. Next week, when I come into work, it will be from 2 miles away. I can sleep in later if I want and still get to work at the same time. I can leave work later if I want and still arrive home at the same time.
I can’t wait!
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