Public transport is always cheaper. Nonetheless, it isn't always dependable. Therefore, in that sense, it can be more expensive. For instance, if you could ride your bike to work, then you'd miss possible traffic jams. Also, if you had your own car, then you might be able to take a quicker route to whatever destination your heading to. Anyhow, what would happen if you lost your job due to traffic jams? You would lose money, right?
We were in Japan last week and we always took the train for traveling because it is the cheapest form of transportation. The taxi will cost you an arm and a leg, so to speak, as per the advice of some Japanese we know. Here in Metro Manila, public transport is the cheapest particularly the train, bus, and jeepney (it is like a small bus). However, ours is a tropical country that is so hot when summer comes like now. When going to work, you would be wet with sweat if you take the public transport that’s why we prefer to use our car even if it is expensive with the gas.
I think it depends on country to country. The values may even be very different (after all, they are different currencies and systems) but I believe that in general, they are always cheap when compared to other means of transportation, such as subways and cars. It's a good way to save some money.
If you have your own car and you want to save money for gas, yes it is cheaper. But the convenience is not as convenient compared to riding on your own car. In our place, there are so many public utility vehicles plying the routes to the capital city. Cars or buses owned by individual transport operators have cheaper fares than those buses operated by a big company. The only disadvantage is the transport schedule. Public buses never observe a strict time for traveling than that of the buses operated by bus company.
The public transport at our end is way much cheaper than using a private vehicle. However, you have to be ready to sit in a congested environment or sometimes even stand throughout and smelling stinks and sweat.
I think it can be much cheaper especially if the public transport fare is not too expensive. I used to take public transport to work, and it's about one hour drive away. It's much cheaper but much more time was consumed in waiting and walking, so I might take two hours to reach my office instead of one. If I am staying near by the station and the public transport is more convenient, then I would think it's more worth to take the public transport, as buying a car, paying for car maintenance and insurance, paying toll and parking fee are much more expensive here.
Definitely, if you compare how much you'll spend on your car's maintenance and requirements you'll find that it's way higher.
I would love to be able to not have to worry about engines failing or one of the thousand parts coming undone, but our public system here is terrible. The convenience is also hard to beat, but it would be some good savings.
I live on Oahu and we have a bus pass for adults that costs $60 a month. When you turn 65, you can get a Senior Bus Pass just $30 for 2 yrs!!! So definitely it's cheaper than having your own care, but as some posters have said, it's an inconvenience when it rains, if you have heavy things you bought and your bus doesn't go where you need to go. I just came across this for visiting my Mom's grave a 2.5 mile walk into the memorial park, and they have found dead bodies in rubbish bags in the area a few years back. Now on tonight's news there is a brutal murder of a woman who is was a Senior Citizen and she had broken arms and slashed with a machete and was robbed. McDonald's was just robbed by 2 people with machetes too. Thus walking into the memorial park 2.5 miles just doesn't seem safe right now. Taxi will cost me around $70 plus tip, so I'll go to church and bring flowers and be safe.(Buddhist have niches for their ancestor's name tablets are put, where we put incense sticks, put food offerings and flowers.)
Yes, public transportation is cheaper, and as I live in a crowded capital with the public transportation I reduce the traveling time with more than an hour then if I would travel by my own car. The only disadvantage using the public transportation is that the trams, buses or subway are really crowded, no space to breath.
It depends on how much you have to use it. Trains in the UK are a terrible price so if you had to rely on them to get to work every day it would be very expensive. For the occasional trip I suppose it would be fine. Buses are ok for short trips but they can be cold and uncomfortable for long trips and as I can sometimes feel ill on a long bus/coach journey I would prefer not to use them.
Public transport is cheaper because you need not have to pay extra for toll fees and parking fees on top of fuel. I prefer taking a car pool to the office because it is cheaper and more convenient than using my own car or taking a bus. Driving everyday can be stressful considering the traffic and the distance. I only bring the car to work on rare occasions like when I needed to report on a Saturday or when I have to attend an office party. I usually just use the car on weekends to do some grocery shopping, take my child to his weekend class, or to visit relatives. In such cases, taking public transportation becomes more expensive and inconvenient because small public utility vehicles charge special rates and we sometimes have to take two special routes. We live in an isolated subdivision and we usually need to walk a bit to reach the terminal for public vehicles. It's not easy if we have to carry some baggage.
