Photo by bencarrdus

If you can avoid getting into a brawl, there’s a new benefit to taking the Metro. A report from the American Public Transportation Association calculates that commuters in the D.C.-area can save an average of $760 per month by living with one less car and switching over to public transportation. The savings were calculated using the costs of driving, such as gas, parking, maintenance and taxes, and comparing those to the price of a monthly, unlimited public transportation pass. D.C. Metrorail does not have such a monthly pass. Whoops.

Surprisingly, D.C. was ranked 15th among 20 cities in the amount of possible savings — meaning either D.C. metro commuting costs are too high in comparison to other cities (likely not) or other cities have more penalties for driving (tolls, parking, fines).

Apart from the lack of a monthly pass in its calculations, the main cost savings in the report comes from eliminating a car in the household. But if we do that, shouldn’t we include other costs of being car-less? Zipcar, cabs and bicycling are all other viable forms of transportation that typically replace a vehicle — and they’re not completely free. Others have tried to do similar calculations with varying results. With increasing transportation options in D.C., sometimes it’s just easier to say that having a car, “just doesn’t make sense.”