BUS STORY # 389 (Annual Pass)

Savvy, a photo by busboy4 on Flickr.

I am retired. This means, among many other things, that I am no longer the beneficiary of my previous employer’s monthly bus pass. I must now pay my own way.

I am also well past the qualifying age for ABQ Ride’s “honored citizen” status (“62+ or mobility impaired” ). That means each bus ride costs me 35 cents. If I need to transfer, another 35 cents.

A typical bus trip costs me $1.40 a day. Paying my own way on the bus is probably the least expensive item on my cost-of-living budget. Well, next to the two-movies-a-month Netflix deal.

I have three other options.

One is to buy a monthly pass for $12.00.

A second is to buy a three month pass for $30.00 (six dollars a month cheaper than three monthly passes).

A third is to by an annual pass for $90.00 (30 dollars cheaper than four three month passes; 54 dollars cheaper than 12 monthly passes).

Aside from the fact that buying one pass once a year is both cheaper and easier than buying four, and a whole lot cheaper and easier than buying a dozen, there is the usage question: would I use the bus enough times for a pass to pay for itself?

I’ve been doing my homework. I can get to my bank, my photocopy shop, my primary care physician, and a twice-a-month presentation at UNM, for a 70 cents round trip. I can get to any of my grocery stores, my barbershop, my meat market, my coffee roaster, my medical specialists, and the restaurants where I meet friends for lunch every week for $1.40 per round trip. If I add stops for the post office and/or library to those trips, it’s another 35 cents. Occasionally, I make a series of stops along a route. Each reboarding costs 35 cents. But it’s rare I go over $1.40 a day.

If I continue averaging three bus trips a week at $1.40 per trip, that comes out to $18.20 a month cash fare. Versus an annual bus pass cost of $7.50 a month no matter how much or how little I ride. Plus: a bus pass would mean I won’t have to be sure I always have correct change -- a real hassle at times.

I’ve sprung for an annual Silver (“honored citizen”) pass.

I’ve begun keeping a record of how many trips I take each week, and how many transfers I make per trip. I plan to calculate the cost/savings on both a monthly and annual basis. I also plan to post these as a side link where I am currently posting the weekly This Week's Featured Bus Story, News from Albuquerque, and Holy Cow! links. I need to come up with a catchy name for this fourth link. Maybe something like “Baby, You’re a Rich Man.”

Now that I’m retired, I should have plenty of time for this little project.  I think I'll schedule it for right after my nap.