Economics of Septa

The house bill that passed regarding transportation appears to screw Chester County over in the sense that they are getting a diminished share of representation, but being asked to contribute more financially at the same to Septa. One question is whether the benefit we receive justifies remaining with SEPTA. What would happen if we stopped giving them money? They would likely halt most bus service and reduce regional rail. While this may have a bad effect in the short term on the local economy, the question is whether or not such subsidies should have been introduced into the economy in the first place.

Today though I will focus on a much more mundane issue which is the economics of the Chester County based Septa rider. This person will live in Exton and commute to Center City.

Travel by Car:

The distance is 35 miles each way and considering the stop-and-go nature of traffic on 202 and the Schuylkill, it is likely that 4 gallons of gasoline will be spent on each commute. I will revise this if it appears to be otherwise. That makes for a total cost each day of $12.

Parking in the City is usually not free. If the person has a reserved spot, great. If not, parking will be about $150-$225 per month. I have heard many horrible stories though and even knew of someone who purposely got parking tickets rather than pay monthly parking fees because they could negotiate the fines down to a much lower price than they would have paid in monthly parking fees.

2-3 hours in the car each day.


Travel by Train:

Monthly rail pass: $181
Parking: $1/day (I believe)
Gasoline: 5 miles/day and 1 gallon/$3/week

2 hours in the train, 10-30 minutes waiting at station, 15 minutes in car to and from station.


Annual Costs (assuming 250 work days):

Car
Gasoline: $3,000
Parking: $1,800
Total: $4,800

Train
Pass: $2,172
Parking: $250
Gasoline: $235
Total: $3,657

So the train is theoretically $1,200 cheaper each year. Some other costs that might be factored in are the increased maintenance and car insurance for the commute by car into Philadelphia. There are also some intangibles to consider like stress and flexibility offered for each mode of transportation.

All in all, though, I'm simply amazed that more people do not use the train now that gasoline is around $3 per gallon. Also, it appears to me that a rate hike is justified for regional rail commuters not only because the system is not self-sufficient, but also because it would off-set taxpayer contributions to the system.