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For me there is no way I could use public transportation. I drive from Jenison to Ada every day and once I am at work I may have to go to the airport then to Holland, then to Zeeland back to Ada then out to Lowell. I had talked about car pooling but my schedule and the person that I would car pool with would not work. If I just sat at work in front of my desk all day I would defenitely consider public transportation. And there is no way that my wife would move to Ada, Lowell or the Forest Hills area.

I have a lot of the same issues. Even if I moved closer to my workplace, I am not sitting behind a desk for 40 hours per week.

For example today I am going to visit government offices in Grand Rapids, Grandville, Wyoming, Kentwood, Wayland, Allegan and Hamilton. Tomorrow I will be in Rockford, Greenville, Cedar Springs, Big Rapids and Reed City. for some of us Public transportation and carpooling is not an option.

Question:

How many of you get subsidized for public transportation by your employer or other entity?

Does anyone get free public transportation perks?

I'm not subsidized for Public transportation but I get a new car every year or two along with Insurance, car repairs and gas paid by my employer.

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Bus fare from Wayland might be just as bad. The busses need gas too. :)

The 6 mile round trip bus fare from my house is $2.60 (unless I buy a pass).

I pay about $2/day for car insurance, $11/day to pay on my car loan and my 6 mile commute probably eats up about $0.75 in gas (at $3.15/gal).

So my per day car cost is roughly $13.75 whereas my per-day bus cost would be $2.60

The problem is that unless I sell my car, I'm still paying $13.00/day to have it sit in the garage so a bus-ride really costs me the $13.00 "car-in-garage" fee and the $2.60 round trip (or $15.60 per day to ride the bus vs. $13.75/day to drive the car).

When you get your car paid off you'll have a nice car with very low miles because you rode the bus :)

You'll also have to get your oil changed less often, wiper blades less often, you won't have to wash your car as often...:)

I understand your reasoning though...

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For me there is no way I could use public transportation. I drive from Jenison to Ada every day and once I am at work I may have to go to the airport then to Holland, then to Zeeland back to Ada then out to Lowell. I had talked about car pooling but my schedule and the person that I would car pool with would not work. If I just sat at work in front of my desk all day I would defenitely consider public transportation. And there is no way that my wife would move to Ada, Lowell or the Forest Hills area.

Why? Living closer to work is a good thing?

Yeah, I was going to say, what's the difference between FH and Jenison? Prices might be a little higher, but Jenison is getting up there. Plus, you don't have to fight with the whole Jenison/Chicago Drive gridlock.

In a perfect world, we'd all live downtown, which is the EPICENTER of Kent County. Then everyone would be no more than 15 minutes from their suburban employers, no matter how many times you switched jobs or offices. :D

tslater, it's time for you to cut the strings and move into the city into an apartment. I don't know if I can hear any more about Wayland....

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tslater, it's time for you to cut the strings and move into the city into an apartment. I don't know if I can hear any more about Wayland....

:lol:

I wrote out this whole response, but it was stupid. All I mean to say was that I spend a ton on gas every month, but what are you going to do. Such is life.

Can anyone beat $450/month with no employer reimbursement? :P

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I ditched my car when I moved to Chicago and have been happily been taking public transit ever since. We moved to the north suburbs 2 years ago and I thought about getting a car, but I did not.... still taking the train to the Loop. I'm married, and my wife has her car which works out just fine running errands and traveling to MI. Another plus to not having a car payment, insurance, and repair bills is that money I spend to take the train is tax free!

If you have easy access to a bus line and it takes you near work, you should try it. Chris Knape's blog story tells it all.

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Here's a gas price analysis that I never would have done before $3. The power company declared yesterday morning that our power may not be restored until Thursday. I have a generator and was using it mostly to keep the refrigerator running. It takes about 5 gallons of gas to run 8 hours = 15 gallons a day = $45.00 a day = $135 through Thursday.

We decided that the food wasn't worth the price of the gas.

Luckily the power was restored late last night before the generator ran out of gas

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"Zenstyle, what do you do in the winter?"

I scooter until there is actual snow or ice on the streets.

When that happens, I walk, take the bus, or drive the husband-mobile, his schedule permitting.

I figure by riding in cold weather, I'm modeling for other would-be scooterists that it's serious transportation; not just a fun, fair-weather option.

Kudos to you! How do you handle idiot drivers? Inattentive, etc.?

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Bus fare from Wayland might be just as bad. The busses need gas too. :)

The 6 mile round trip bus fare from my house is $2.60 (unless I buy a pass).

I pay about $2/day for car insurance, $11/day to pay on my car loan and my 6 mile commute probably eats up about $0.75 in gas (at $3.15/gal).

So my per day car cost is roughly $13.75 whereas my per-day bus cost would be $2.60

The problem is that unless I sell my car, I'm still paying $13.00/day to have it sit in the garage so a bus-ride really costs me the $13.00 "car-in-garage" fee and the $2.60 round trip (or $15.60 per day to ride the bus vs. $13.75/day to drive the car).

6 miles at 10 mph is [takes off shoes]... 36 minutes. Got a downhill or two? Throw in a 15-20 mph coast.

Plus you get door-to-door parking convenience and a free workout.

HTH

edit: do I need to clarify which transportation mode I am suggesting???

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When you get your car paid off you'll have a nice car with very low miles because you rode the bus :)

You'll also have to get your oil changed less often, wiper blades less often, you won't have to wash your car as often...:)

I understand your reasoning though...

Until a couple of months ago, I drove a 13-year-old Subaru. His name was Ergo. I got him when he was brand-new. No car payment the last 10 years of his life. He only had 89,000 miles on him, and I would have kept him longer but his powertrain died on me, and it would have cost $1,800 to fix a $2,100 car. And who knows what would have gone next. A kind mechanic bought him for $300 and plans to fix him up for his teenager.

There were times when I didn't drive for a week or so, and I often forgot where I parked him in the ramp.

I now have a 2004 Hyundai Elantra that gets great gas mileage. His name is Zippy.

Budgie

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If a bus ran up Walker Ave near Meijer headquarters I could easily take the bus from my house on east side of Grand Rapids. But, it doesn't, so I don't. If I worked downtown I'd probably ride a bike every day. I wish we had some sort of shower facility at work so I could bike here and still wear decent work clothes.

-nb

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6 miles at 10 mph is [takes off shoes]... 36 minutes. Got a downhill or two? Throw in a 15-20 mph coast.

Plus you get door-to-door parking convenience and a free workout.

HTH

edit: do I need to clarify which transportation mode I am suggesting???

Hey, I use my bike more than my car for commuting.

I was just pointing out that the bus isn't economically logical for all users.

So that's HIM driving that GEM around EGR. That thing looks like a death trap.. :)

(Something like this if you aren't sure what it is)

Gem-Car.jpg

I thought the same thing when I read that article. :)

I saw him in the 4th of July parade driving and thought it was a super-golf-cart or something.

Neat little vehicle.

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So that's HIM driving that GEM around EGR. That thing looks like a death trap.. :)

(Something like this if you aren't sure what it is)

Gem-Car.jpg

The closest local dealer is in **Fremont**?!?

Someone needs to rent RPC or a surface lot at GVSU and have a Gem-In. Create some buzz.

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Why? Living closer to work is a good thing? :)

When we moved to Jenison from Holland, I wanted to look at Houses in East, FH, Ada, etc. She wanted to be closer to her mom in Jenison.

At least I am not doing the Holland to Ada drive everyday or the Holland to Kalamazoo drive that I did for 5 years. Baby steps.

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I think gas prices are reasonable. When I factor inflation, I'm paying about what I should be. The oil companies are just trying to make a profit, just like Mickey D's and Meijers. The only thing that keeps these companies back is that they are constantly reinventing how they take crude and manufacture it into gasoline. Its not like they are reaping millions into their pockets, its going back into the environment one drilling machine after another. Give them a break.

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I think gas prices are reasonable. When I factor inflation, I'm paying about what I should be. The oil companies are just trying to make a profit, just like Mickey D's and Meijers. The only thing that keeps these companies back is that they are constantly reinventing how they take crude and manufacture it into gasoline. Its not like they are reaping millions into their pockets, its going back into the environment one drilling machine after another. Give them a break.

They are reaping billions actually...so technically you're correct.

:)

Jokes aside, I actually happen to agree with you. No matter how you slice it, Chevron/Mobile/etc. make about $0.10 per gallon of gas that gets sold [self-reported data by ConocoPhilips, accuracy can be debated but it's within an order of magnitude of being correct at the very least]. The fluctuation in prices does not cause a resultant fluctuation in their profits. If they really are only making $0.10/gallon in profits, that's only 3% profit margin at $3/gal.

What's more, their record profits (even including inflation, the big oil companies are making more, right now, than any company in the history of American capitalism) are more driven by the rapid increase in global demand than by some price gouging.

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I'm glad people are not happy about high gas prices, but I agree with the above posters. We don't need to give the oil companies flak, we need to find other alternatives to gasoline! High gas prices have finally driven that point home more than environmental activism ever could. People are selfish, and if something costs them money that's when they'll care.

-nb

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I'm glad people are not happy about high gas prices, but I agree with the above posters. We don't need to give the oil companies flak, we need to find other alternatives to gasoline! High gas prices have finally driven that point home more than environmental activism ever could. People are selfish, and if something costs them money that's when they'll care.

-nb

I'll be interested to see this movie. Would anyone be interested in getting a showing put together? :whistling:

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