The Drive To The City

People sometimes ask me why I don’t go into the city more. Some have even asked why I don’t consider working there. After all, I’m only a little over one hour outside of it. There are a number of reasons, but the biggest one is actually the expense. The following guest post from Maria on commuting sums it up pretty well.

When people think of New York City, most picture either the bustling downtown Manhattan area with major corporate headquarters and Wall Street or the huge ethnic melting pot of small businesses and blue collar families working hard to make a living in Brooklyn and Queens. Manhattan employs over 3.7 million people, and the majority of those workers use public transportation or commute from outlying areas, such as Fairfield County in Connecticut, the Bergen and Hudson counties in New Jersey, or the outlying New York counties, including Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester.

Drivers heading into NYC from New Jersey have to cross the Hudson River, by either driving over the water using the George Washing Bridge or going under the water via the Lincoln Tunnel. The George Washing Bridge is the world’s busiest bridge, in terms of vehicular traffic, and the Lincoln Tunnel is the world’s busiest vehicular tunnel. This type of heavy traffic can add a lot of stress on the individual drivers, with unexpected delays, the constant threat of accidents and the cost of tolls and other vehicle operating expenses.

Recent studies by the New York Department of Transportation revealed survey results regarding the types of commuting methods and the percentages of workers who primarily use each method:

Take the subway		41%
Drive alone		24%
Take the bus		12%
Walk to work		10%
Carpool		5%
Travel by commuter rail		2%
Use a taxi		1%
Ride their bicycle to work		0.60%
Travel by ferry		0.20%
Unspecified		4%

To encourage car pooling and ride sharing, New Jersey and New York have tried various programs, including a recent monetary incentive that subsidized vans and free gas cards to eligible car pool users. New Jersey’s web site has an online commuting cost calculator that helps demonstrate to drivers the actual cost of driving into the City alone every day. The commuting cost calculator adds in the cost of of gas, insurance, maintenance and repairs, etc. based on both the number of miles driven each way and type of vehicle driven.

Although they overlooked adding in the cost of tolls, which depends upon the chosen route, the knowledge of how much the true expense of driving alone adds up every month is a good incentive for many people to consider finding one or more riders to help split that cost. A recent story by CBS, “As Gas Prices And Tolls Rise, Carpooling Gains In Popularity In New Jersey” is a good overview of the advantages of sharing commuting expenses.

In addition to the advantage of saving money on gas and tolls by sharing a ride, people can use the time when its their turn to not drive as a social opportunity to network with with other riders or the driver who may be co-workers or other professionals with similar interests, read or write on laptops or electronic media, or just relax while someone else deals with the responsibility of the driving. Many articles list other advantages and considerations of ride sharing worth reading if this is a possibility for you.

Reducing the number of miles that your own vehicle is on the road can result in a savings on New Jersey car insurance costs. Any time that your driving habits change significantly, consult your insurance agent or broker to see how that will affect your premium amounts and whether your coverage is adequate.