X VS Y COMPARISON #95 · EVERYDAY · MONEY
At the defaults — 12 miles each way, 5 days a week, 48 work weeks a year, 28 mpg, gas at $3.40 a gallon, parking at $8 a day, and a $2.75 transit fare — driving costs $2,619.43 a year and public transit costs $1,320. Transit is cheaper by $1,299.43, but it takes longer: 400 hours a year against 280 hours driving, and driving emits 2,327.04 kg of CO2 against 806.40 kg by transit. Parking, not gas, is what makes driving expensive here. Enter your own numbers and see which side your commute falls on.
Annual miles are one-way miles times 2 times days per week times weeks per year. Driving gas is miles divided by mpg times the gas price; parking is the daily rate times days times weeks. Transit is the fare per trip times 2 trips a day times days times weeks. Time is minutes one-way times the same trip count, divided by 60. CO2 uses 0.404 kg per mile for driving (US EPA figure) and 0.14 kg per passenger-mile for transit.
Setup: 12 miles one-way, 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year, 28 mpg, gas at $3.40 a gallon, parking at $8 a day, transit fare $2.75 a trip, 35 minutes driving and 50 minutes by transit one-way.
Line 1 — trips and miles. 2 × 5 × 48 = 480 trips a year. Miles: 12 × 480 = 5,760 miles a year.
Line 2 — driving gas. 5,760 ÷ 28 = 205.71 gallons, costing 205.71 × $3.40 = $699.43.
Line 3 — driving parking. $8 × 5 × 48 = $1,920. Parking alone costs nearly three times the gas.
Line 4 — driving total. $699.43 + $1,920 = $2,619.43 a year.
Line 5 — transit total. $2.75 × 480 = $1,320 a year. Transit is cheaper by $2,619.43 − $1,320 = $1,299.43.
Line 6 — time. Driving: 35 × 480 ÷ 60 = 280 hours a year. Transit: 50 × 480 ÷ 60 = 400 hours a year. Transit costs 120 extra hours for its $1,299.43 saving, about $10.83 saved per extra hour.
Line 7 — CO2. Driving: 5,760 × 0.404 = 2,327.04 kg. Transit: 5,760 × 0.14 = 806.40 kg. Transit saves 1,520.64 kg a year, roughly the weight of a small car.
Set parking to $0 and driving falls to just its gas cost, $699.43, while transit stays at $1,320. Driving is now cheaper by $620.57. Time and CO2 do not change: 280 vs 400 hours, 2,327.04 vs 806.40 kg. This is the single most common reason real commutes flip: free workplace parking subsidizes driving by $1,920 a year here.
Stretch the commute to 25 miles one-way and annual miles jump to 12,000. Gas becomes 12,000 ÷ 28 × $3.40 = $1,457.14, parking stays at $1,920, so driving totals $3,377.14 against transit at $1,320 — transit cheaper by $2,057.14. CO2 grows with the miles: driving 4,848.00 kg, transit 1,680.00 kg. Long commutes punish the car twice, in money and emissions, while the flat fare barely notices the distance.
Raise the fare to $5.00 a trip and transit costs 480 × $5.00 = $2,400 a year, while driving stays at $2,619.43. Transit still wins, but only by $219.43 — and it still costs 120 extra hours. At this fare, anyone who values their time above about $1.83 an hour (the $219.43 saving divided by 120 hours) rationally drives. Fares do not have to rise far before the money argument for transit gets thin, even though the emissions argument stays strong.
| Output | Formula | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Annual miles | one-way miles × 2 × days × weeks | 5,760 miles at the defaults — the distance both options travel. |
| Driving gas cost | miles ÷ mpg × gas price | $699.43 at the defaults — 205.71 gallons at $3.40. |
| Driving parking cost | parking per day × days × weeks | $1,920 at the defaults — the larger half of the driving bill. |
| Driving total | gas cost + parking cost | $2,619.43 at the defaults. |
| Transit total | fare × 2 × days × weeks | $1,320 at the defaults — 480 trips at $2.75. |
| Annual hours | minutes one-way × trips ÷ 60 | 280 h driving, 400 h transit at the defaults. |
| Annual CO2 | miles × 0.404 (driving) or × 0.14 (transit) | 2,327.04 kg driving, 806.40 kg transit at the defaults. |
This compares only fuel, parking, and fare. It excludes car purchase, insurance, maintenance, depreciation, and tolls on the driving side, and monthly-pass discounts beyond the per-trip fare you enter on the transit side — include those and driving usually looks worse, not better. Time is door-to-door minutes as you enter them, not scheduled timetables, and traffic varies by day. CO2 factors are planning averages: the EPA driving figure is 0.404 kg per mile for a typical passenger vehicle, and 0.14 kg per passenger-mile is a typical transit average that varies with ridership and vehicle type. Error policy: non-positive miles, days, weeks, mpg, gas price, fare, or minutes, and negative parking, are reported as errors rather than modeled.
Bright Side Kit. "Drive vs Public Transit Commute Cost Calculator 2026." https://brightoolbox.com/drive-vs-public-transit-commute/ Accessed October 24, 2026.Data sourcesIt depends mostly on parking. At the defaults, transit costs $1,320 a year against $2,619.43 driving, a $1,299.43 saving. With free parking, driving falls to $699.43 and wins by $620.57. Enter your own parking rate before deciding.
$2,619.43 a year at the defaults — $699.43 in gas plus $1,920 in parking for a 12-mile commute, 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year. Gas is the smaller half; parking is what makes driving expensive.
$1,320 a year at the defaults — 480 trips at $2.75 each. At a $5.00 fare the same commute costs $2,400, and transit wins by only $219.43.
Yes, strongly. At 25 miles one-way, driving costs $3,377.14 against transit at $1,320, a $2,057.14 transit saving. Gas and emissions scale with distance; a flat fare does not.
120 hours a year at the defaults — 400 hours by transit against 280 hours driving, or 15 extra minutes each way. Divide your money saving by those hours to see what your time is worth in the trade.
1,520.64 kg a year at the defaults — 2,327.04 kg driving against 806.40 kg by transit for 5,760 miles. At 25 miles one-way the saving grows to 3,168.00 kg a year.
For a full ownership comparison, yes. This calculator compares only fuel, parking, and fare, because those are the costs that change when you switch modes. Adding insurance, maintenance, and depreciation makes driving look worse, since most of those costs continue even if you drive less.
Enter the price you personally pay. Employer-paid parking means $0 in the parking field, which flips this example to driving by $620.57. An employer-paid transit pass means a $0 fare, which makes transit win outright — the calculator models your wallet, not the total cost to society.