# Can a commuter rail make a profit?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-commuter-rail-make-a-profit/70239>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 26, 2001, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-commuter-rail-make-a-profit/70239 "2001-06-26T20:22:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2001, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-commuter-rail-make-a-profit/70239/21 "2001-07-03T16:15:48Z")

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> [@](#):
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> \*\*\*Originally posted by scr4 \*A 20-mile car trip can cost $2 just for the gas, considering how poor a gas mileage you get during rush hours. I’m not familiar with US commuter trains, but do they cost much more than this?
> 
> Also, cost of car ownership is not constant. By commtuing by train you cut down the mileage significantly, with correspondingly lower maintenance and depreciation costs. \*\*

Not to mention lower insurance costs. I save several hundred dollars a year because I don’t use my car for commuting.

My train ticket from western Suffolk county to Manhattan (about 35 miles by train) costs $181.00/month (there are additional discounts for buying a Metrocard (subway pass) with the ticket, but I won’t get into that). Assuming 20 commuting days/month (some months have more, but we’ll subtract a few for vacation, sick days, etc; days that you pay for but don’t use), that comes to about $9.00/day. Personally, I think that commuting into Manhattan by car is insane, not to mention selfish (unless you’re carpooling). It’s certainly more expensive; just **parking** in Manhattan during the day costs about the same as a train ticket (the monthly parking spots cost about the same as a monthly ticket; that doesn’t even consider gas, depreciation and the stress of sitting in standstill traffic). And it usually takes longer…

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