This, I will agree with.  But is the savings worth the inconvenience of riding public transportation?  Your average driver would forego those savings instead of subjecting themselves to public transit.

This is so true, and easily verifiable:

$25,000 car, driven 150,000 miles = 17 cents per mile

driven 12,000 miles per year, and it gets 20 MPG

10 cents per miles for gas at $2 per gallon

20 cents per mile at $4 per gallon

$500 maintenance per year, or 4 cents per mile

17 + 10 or 20 + 4 = 31 to 41 cents per mile

So if drive 10 miles RT to the park & ride instead of driving 50 miles RT, you save 40 miles per work day, or 8000 miles per year, or $2480 - $3280. WOW

well, I forgot to subtract the bus fare, but it's still a substantially huge savings

I never did the math but my employer pays my fare each month.

But just driving to run errands on the weekends costs me around $80/ month in gas. And thats if I dont travel... So its a savings.

BUT... If I had to depend on METRO for more then going downtown daily, then I would have to suck up the costs of driving until I couldnt afford it anymore. METRO just isnt reliable nor do they want to change anything to make the local buses run in a timely fashion. I gave an elderly a ride home one night because she was going around trying to get money for a cab cause she was stranded by a bus driver who decided to run 10 minutes ahead of schedule. . To bad he wasnt driving a P&R route... Maybe her complaint would have been heard.

Citing costs/savings for other cities with large components of rail, cities which now claim they must slash fixed-guideway service as the operation amd maintenance costs are enormous, trying to turn Houstonians into "sheeple" will fail.

METREAUX continually tries to "Sell the Sizzle" for rail but there is no beef!  Urban rail, at-grade in Houston is inherently unsafe and continues to be unreliable as our "transit backbone."

Not another dime should be squandered on the "Solutions" rail scheme.

First, we must understand that the APTA is indeed the transit companies and the group is meant to focus solely on how good the transit authorities are.

Focusing merely on savings is not a prudent way for anyone to view private transit compared to public transit.

I just used Metro's planner to see what it would take to get me from my house to several clients who all live several blocks off Holcombe and Kirby.

My first attempt failed.  Why?  Because Metro's planner will not work if your house address is over .5 miles from a stop.

So, I then used Briar Forest and Kirkwood to Holcombe and Kirby.  

NOT counting my long walk at each end,  Metro tells me that I can get there with only 1 transfer.  The total time is a mere 98 minutes (ONE WAY!).  

Now, I am paid from $35-65 per hour for work done, so time is also money to me (and all of you as well unless you work for the government.

The total distance using I-10 is approx. 18.4 miles (from my actually driveway to theirs) and I can make it easily in 30 min's or less.  

That gives me over 2 hours extra time to work.....or less time away from home.

APTA used old gas costs and I am currently paying $1.63, but I always use my Shell card and so I get 5% off....$1.55 per gallon.  Not $2.35.

I do not have to stand in the rain or heat or cold waiting for a bus.

I do not have to subject myself to a large group of people in a confined space, some of which may have a cold or the flu.

I can make calls privately to family, clients and suppliers all without any background noises.

I can detour on a dime to alter my destination without any delays.

Question for Mary.  How many of the white collar workers at Metro use public transit for all work day trips to and from work?  Also, how much do they pay for their bus trips compared to non-employees?

Do Metro employees consider time to be worth money?

Thanks in advance.