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Gas is getting expensive, but which mode of transportation is cheaper?By Jonathan Saupe - email
With gas prices so high, it's definitely worth it to calculate your commute. The KOLD News team put four forms of transportation to the test to help you pick what's best and cheapest for you and your family. Dan Marries took a scooter, Chuck George rode the bus, Damien Alameda peddled his way around town on a bike, and Heather Rowe hauled around in a gas guzzling SUV.
They all started at the corner of 22nd and Alvernon, and ended at Hotel Congress downtown, during rush hour traffic. To simulate the stop and go traffic most Tucsonans face Dan and Heather took Alvernon to Broadway and merged into Congress. Dan came in first on the scooter. He made the 4.5 mile trip in about 13 minutes without speeding. His scooter gets about 90 miles to the gallon in stop and go traffic. If he made this trip round trip five days a week, that would put his driving time and cost for per week at about 2 hours and 10 minutes. It would cost about $1.72 in gas money a week. This is with gas priced at $3.44 a gallon like it was Monday Afternoon.
It took Heather about 14 minutes to take the same trip. The SUV she was driving gets about 15 miles per gallon. The same trip cost her about $10.32 in gas and 2 hours and 20 minutes in time.
Since Damien was able to cut the distance to 3.8 miles by taking the Aviation bike path, he would only travel 38 miles per week at a cost of nothing. It took him 18 minutes to get to downtown. That's about 3 hours in ride time per week.
Chuck's number 7 Sun Tran bus route took him a bit out of the way. He finished at about 25 minutes. That adds up to 4 hours and 10 minutes per week. At a cost of $7 a week, because he could buy a bus pass for $28 a month.
