Heavenly Paradise@AdelineAng.com

I love this. What a great way to promote the city public transit! The chart doesn’t only provide the difference in total cost by owning a car and riding the bus, but the detailed information also gives the general public an idea of what really adds up. The final line is a good one too: increased daily costs with usage of car, BUT decreased daily costs with usage of bus. Finally, “It Pays to Use Transit.”

Whoever came out with this chart, I’m hoping that he/she is taking the public transit him/herself. Owning a car is expensive. That’s very well true. Better still, keeping a car costs more. Depending on the manufacturer, condition, etc., a ten-year-old used car can easily be purchased at merely $3,ooo, or even less. According to the chart above, the total cost to maintain the car is far more than the cost of the car itself. $6,500 (total cost from the chart) - $2,820 (leasing cost) = $3,680.

Let’s do the math. Divide the annual estimated cost by 12. $3,680/12 = ~ $307. Come to think of it… how many of us spend $307 on groceries each month for one person? Are we spending more on the car than on ourselves? Does it mean that we treasure the car more?

I know not everyone agrees with me. Owning car for the family is one thing, but owning car for just one person seems almost ridiculous! Of course, if you have no other debts to look after and that you can afford it, why not?

Having said that, car is a necessity nowadays, especially if you don’t live close to workplace. Taking a bus costs less, but I’ve to admit that the traveling time is not very flexible. In a small city like Fredericton, be ready to wait for another 30 minutes to an hour for the next bus. Worse still, limited buses on Saturdays, and no bus available on Sundays.

To own a car or to ride the bus? The decision is up to individuals. I considered myself fortunate that I can ride the bus to and fro work during the cold months, and ride my bicycles during the warmer months. Nonetheless, when I can finally settle down in the city some day, having a car is a nice treat.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 12th, 2010 at 1:06 pm and is filed under Opinions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.