Commuting is a big part of your working life, so it’s a good idea to get the facts before you start working. You can use the expense calculator to help you find out how much money you will spend on commuting.
One way commute
A one-way commute is a semi-common way of commuting, it’s when you drive from your home to work or from work to home. When your commute doesn’t require two separate commutes, it’s best for you to enter the address where we’re starting and ending our journey.
For example: If I live in Los Angeles and work in Burbank, I would choose “Home” as my start location and then choose “Work” as my destination. This will give me the total distance and estimated travel time for each direction separately (i.e., going from my house back to work).
Types of commuting
There are a variety of types of commutes that can affect how much your commute costs in both time and money. The following is a list of some common types of commutes, but it may not be comprehensive:
- Commuting by car can be expensive if you have to pay for gas and parking, or even just the cost of keeping up with maintenance like oil changes, tire rotation, etc. It can also be dangerous as you are driving on crowded roads with other commuters who are stressed out about getting to work on time. Driving alone in your own car does not encourage social interaction or exercise due to sitting all day without having any physical activity during the drive itself (unless you count steering).
- Walking or biking is an environmentally friendly way to get around town, but there may be situations where walking isn’t practical such as when weather conditions are poor (inclement weather), distance from home/workplace is too far away so they need another mode of transportation (bicycle), or there isn’t enough space at their destination location where it could fit inside comfortably because there aren’t enough parking spots available (bike).
Carpool
If you drive alone to work every day, there may be a way for you to save time and money. You can find a carpool partner and drive together in the same vehicle each morning.
If there are other people in your area who travel to your workplace or school at about the same time as you do, then it’s worthwhile trying out this option. Carpooling is one of the easiest ways of reducing fuel costs and helping the environment.
The only downside that we have found with carpooling is that it requires more effort than simply driving yourself to get somewhere. But if you’re willing to put forth some effort, then it’s worth considering whether this form of transportation would work for you!
In fact, there are many services that make carpooling easier. You can set your destination and travel route, find someone who is traveling to the same destination, who would travel with you, and share the gas cost.
Public transport
For many people, public transport is the way to go when traveling to work every day. In almost all cases, public transport is cheaper than commuting by car and not splitting the expenses with another person. There are a few downsides of course. In some countries, public transport is very underdeveloped. You could also run into an issue, where you don’t have any busses at the time you need them, although, in basically all major cities in all first-world countries, this is absolutely not a problem.
How to use the commute calculator
The commute calculator is a bit more complex than our other calculators. For starters, you need to enter the distance you have to travel (in one way), as well as how many times a month you travel. Then depending on whether you travel by public transport or by car, you have to enter a few more details.
If you travel by car, you need to enter the following details:
- How many people are you sharing the ride with?
- Your car’s fuel economy
- The gas price
- Parking and toll costs
- Wear and tear costs – this refers to the cost of maintenance of your car. If you’re carpooling with someone, just ignore this field.
Once you input all this, the calculator will give you the final cost, as well as the cost per person.
If you travel by bus, all you need to input are the ticket price and for how long the ticket is valid. Once you enter these, the calculator will give you your final cost per month.
FAQ
How do you calculate commute time?
To calculate commute time, all you need to do is divide your average travel speed by the distance you have to travel.
What are the benefits of a carpool?
The main benefit of carpooling is the decreased price of commute.
What is the cheapest way to commute?
In most cases, the cheapest way to commute is using public transport.