commuter dillemma.

as you probably already know, i ride my bike to work. i've got to say, it's definitely high up there on my "things that attribute to my high quality of life" list (post pending, for a bad day). on occasion though, i will ride the bus in, or even bring my car to work (esp when i have an urgent appointment after work, ie, the airport...but in most cases i still ride the bike to/from work, then grab my car). all in all, i'm a big fan of mass transit, but am frustrated by all the supposed "trial barriers" non-urban people cite to not adopt it in their daily routine.

a few weeks ago, when choosing to ride the bus in (it had been quite a few months), i was surprised to find that busfare had gone up from $1 to $1.50 (when the bus driver called me back to the front of the bus to finish paying my fare). as with many things, this is a clear indicator of:
(1) my age/the many years i've been a supporter of the bus/living in cincinnati, and
(2) inflation, though other, more notable indicators for me are -comics (when i started collecting in '85, they were just $0.75, they now average $3!) -stamps (i remember them being $0.25, they are now nearing $0.50).

usually when i tell people i ride my bike to work, they ask "even in the winter/snow" - to which i respond, "no stupid, for those painfully long/dreary months of the year i opt to take the bus"

ANYHOW. this morning, while riding my bike down the hill, i was contemplating what i would do this coming winter. continue to take the bus (which is now more expensive), or (gasp!) drive to work. here's my math:

ASSUMPTIONS:
-office days in month (accounting for out of office/travel days) : 20
-bus fare: $1.50 each way, so $3/day
-distance to work: 2 miles, so 4 miles roundtrip -parking pass: $50
-government mileage rate: $0.50 1/2 (for gas + wear/tear on car)

MONTHLY COST
-raman RIDES BUS: $60 = 20 days * $3 bus fare
-raman DRIVES CAR: $90 = (4 mi/day * 20 days * $0.50/mi) + $50 parking

EXTERNALITY SCORE: car=4, bus=7
-convenience (car)
-carbon footprint (bus)
-freezing outside every morning walking to/from stop + waiting (car)
-exercise from walking everyday (bus)
-time spent outside wiping snow/ice off car in AM (bus)
-keeping an awesome parking space in front of my house (bus)
-time spent on bus reading/working (bus)
-commute time to work (car)
-interaction/people watching on bus (bus)
-keeping awesome parking space in front of my house (bus)
-taking my parking pass back from josh (car)

while it looks like the bus clearly wins ($30/month cheaper...the cost of 10 comics, roughly my monthly intake/habit), it still feels like a draw in my mind. what do you think? weigh in!

and more importantly, have you run this analysis on YOUR commute?