So how much is that drive costing you?

One of the things that make public transportation seem so expensive is that you pay each ride and it seems to be a lot. But have you ever figured out how much it costs to drive a car. We had a recent commuter day at work and AAA was there. They were handing out a pamphlet called You Driving Costs which spells out exactly how much driving a car costs, and the amount is surprising: $0.56 per mile. This takes into account the cost of the car, insurance, maintenance and gasoline. So this means that the average commute according to the ABC News/Time Magazine/Washington Post Poll is 16 miles and costs about $8.50.

So mass transit is really a bargain, except for the fact that mass transit takes more time and that's really the wash. In NYC and other places, mass transit can be faster. Elsewhere that's the rub.

So cars may be faster than mass transit in many cases, but they are not a bargain.