Earlier this week we posted about the annual fare increase for public transport in Wellington. The usual debates ensued about the general cost of things and I heard the classic urban myth again…
Urban myth #466a – Public transport is too expensive. It’s cheaper to drive.
I’m a regular train user and I have known for a while that catching the train is good value for me. I’m also keen on comparing facts, so this time I decided to run the numbers and see how much it ACTUALLY costs to drive compared to catching the bus.
One of the most surprising things I found was how easy it is to under-estimate the cost of running a car. You’ve got to include the price of the car, servicing, re-licencing, insurance, warrant of fitness, depreciation, petrol (ouch), oil, tyres, maintenance, air conditioning, and the number of All Black supporters flags sticking out of your windows, before you even get close to the true cost.
Fortunately, the Automobile Association publishes an annual report that works all that out (it’s free to download if you are an AA member).
Here’s a quick summary for a typical car…
In 2011 the true cost of owning and running a “compact” vehicle (eg. a 1600cc car) is now over 63 cents per kilometre. That’s gone up 6.6% since 2010, in no small part because the price of petrol has increased 40 cents per litre.
According to the AA, the average NZ driver drives 14,000km per year (about 38km per day). At 63 cents per km, that works out at a running cost of $24 per day. If you then add parking – say $8 for a super earlybird rate – the cost is over $32 per day.
So, in Wellington the cost of driving is cheaper than a typical 2-zone bus fare IF you drive less than 5.5km each way AND you can park your car for free.
Of course, if you pay for your bus fare with Snapper, driving is cheaper if you travel less than 4.1km each way and get free parking.
They are a couple of big “ifs”.
How much are you saving with Snapper?
In Wellington Snapper provides between 20 – 26% discount compared to adult cash fares (it’s 20-28% discount for child fares), even after the 1 November fare increase. Do you know how much that discount means you save every year?
A typical Snapper customer takes a 2-zone adult journey, 7 times a week, for 48 weeks of the year. If that’s you, you are saving a sizeable $309 a year paying with Snapper instead of cash.
Earlier this week, that $309 could have bought you a return flight to Melbourne on Air New Zealand‘s 24-hour deals, with a few dollars left over for some toblerone chocolate at duty free.
Snapper savings calculator
If you want to find out how much you save every year by paying with Snapper you can work it out on this simple Snapper savings calculator (it is an excel file download).
So the next time you think about taking the car, you might want to consider the true cost of driving. For your average New Zealand driver that’s over $8800 per year for a compact car.
Are you surprised at how much you can save when you pay with Snapper?