Now I know a lot of people need their own car/truck/van for work and other reason, but I would like to just show the benefits of public transportation, so please keep reading (even if you never ever, not in a million years plan to not own a vehicle).

First reason it rocks: its cheap. If your a penny pincher or you have recently looked at your financial and realize you need to be a penny pincher, then public transit is for you. Plain and simple it is cheaper then owning a vehicle. Studies have shown that when people are estimating the cost of a vehicle, they only allocate 50% of what it will actually cost them to use. So if your building a budget, make sure you double your estimate for car expenses (insurance, gas, repairs, washer fluid etc.).

The argument that public transportation is inconvenient is often over stated. Once you start taking it for a while, you know the schedules and you tend to base some of your plans around that, making it more convenient  for you. However I 100% agree that often public transportation (depending on the city) can cost you significantly more time and since time is money, how much are you really saving?

My last reason for public transportation being awesome (okay, so maybe awesome is a little over zealous) is that its more environmentally friendly. Pollution from cars has an impact on everyones air, there is no need to keep this impact high when you have the option to reduce. The economies of scale that buses and trains get on pollution makes them far nicer to mother nature then a Hummer with low tie pressure.

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Filed under: Frugal, Green, Saving