Car vs. Bus

Drive or take the bus? It's only money.

It’s a no-brainer that taking Cherriots is less expensive than buying gasoline, putting mileage on a car and paying for employee parking in downtown Salem. The question is: how much less?

To make a rough cost comparison, we started with a hypothetical commute.

Imagine a Salem area resident making a 15-mile round trip commute and paying for parking. It costs about $2.69 per gallon to fill the commuter’s newer, fuel-efficient vehicle.

The going rate for a parking space in a downtown Salem garage is in the neighborhood of $55 a month, or about $1.80 per day.

The cost of an annual, adult full-fare pass is $540, or $2.07 per day based on the current weekday-only service and no service on major holidays.

We plugged those numbers into an online calculator developed by the National Alliance of Public Transportation Advocates.

Here are the results from our experience:

Vehicle: Small car getting 28 mpg

• The yearly cost of a 15-mile round trip, including fuel, parking, maintenance cost:$952.82
• The cost of a commute by public transit: $540.00
• Total savings by riding Cherriots: $412.82

Vehicle: Midsize car getting 24 mpg

• The yearly cost of a 15-mile round trip, including fuel, parking, maintenance cost:$1,031.70
• The yearly cost of commute by public transit: $540.00
• Total savings by riding Cherriots: $491.70

Vehicle: SUV getting 19 mpg

• The yearly cost of a 15-mile round trip, including fuel, parking, maintenance cost:$1,146.52
• The yearly cost of commute by public transit: $540.00
• Total savings by riding Cherriots: $606.52

Do your own math. Click the button below to determine your cost of commuting by car versus taking the bus.

​Online Calculator