Gas prices and commute times may increase your commuting cost. However, there are some things that you can do to reduce your commuting cost and benefit from your commute to work. These things include the following:
- Getting a Gas Credit Card
Some of the credit cards will provide you gas rewards every time you fuel up. A few of the cards give 2 or 3 times the points on gas. Even though the standard cashback savings on standard gas purchases is not astronomical, it is possible to rack up a decent amount of reward points that you can redeem for travel or towards your monthly credit card bill. In addition, most of the gas stations offer their customers co-branded rewards cards. This may be a good option for those who fuel up at the same gas station.
- Getting Reimbursed
To increase job satisfaction and retention, some employers in major urban areas now offer pre-tax commuter benefit programs. Cities in the San Francisco Bay area, Washington D.C., and New York City have passed legislation that requires businesses with over 20 employees to offer pre-tax commuter benefits programs. An employee can use pre-tax earnings to pay for commuting expenses with the maximum being 260 dollars a month.
An employee can use these commuter benefits programs for mass transit expenses like train, bus, subway, or vanpool between their home and workplace. However, they don’t usually cover expenses for an employee’s personal vehicle but the employee can consider putting aside pre-tax earnings and paying for parking in employer-granted parking facilities which are found at or near a mass transit rideshare lot or at or near the business.
Even though the law changes made in 2018 do not allow employers to claim a business deduction for offering commuter benefits programs, employees can pay for qualifying commuter benefits using their pre-tax earnings.
- Carpooling
Riding with someone else and using the HOV lanes can save you money. 19 states In the US have HOV lanes that allow those cars with a driver and one or more passengers during peak commute time to bypass traffic in highway lanes. Most of these states in the US have lanes that allow electric or hybrid vehicles with a single occupant to use these lanes.
10 states in the US recently made HOV lanes called High Occupancy Toll or HOT in short. These lanes can be used by single-occupancy vehicles at a fee. The price of the HOT lanes changes depending on the traffic conditions and usually ranges between 0.25 dollars to 4 dollars per mile.
- Map it Out
Using a route planner like Google Maps or Route4Me or even trying a new route to or from your office may help you find a better route. Keep in mind that the driving route you usually take to or from your workplace may be the shortest and the fastest when there is no traffic but it may not be the best route to or from your office. A longer route with less traffic saves time and gas and is a good route to take to or from work.
- Consider Your Car’s Fuel Efficiency
It is very important to ask yourself whether your car is reducing or increasing your commuting costs. Electric and hybrid cars can save you money on fuel and let you travel in the HOV lanes. Find out about your car’s fuel efficiency and compare it to other cars on the market. Smaller, lighter cars are more fuel-efficient than big, heavy trucks and SUVs and the difference can significantly increase the gas bill every year.
The type of gas your car consumes can hurt your commuting costs. The national average price for regular gas is 2.86 dollars per gallon. The price of medium octane gas is 3.154 dollars per gallon while the price of premium gas is 3.406 dollars per gallon. If your car takes premium gas, you will spend an extra 0.55 dollars per gallon every time you put fuel in your car. This could add up to about 750 dollars by the end of the year and save you having to take out a bad credit loan UK.
Your car’s fuel efficiency also depends on how you maintain your car. Since sitting in traffic for long periods of time can be hard on the systems of your vehicle, it is good to get regular servicing on your vehicle. Avoid delaying routine maintenance services as doing so will cost you more in the long run.
For instance, a routine oil change may cost about 73 dollars. However, delaying the oil change will cost you more as it will damage more parts of your car. In fact, you could end up spending 3,500 dollars. In the same way, on-time brake services may cost around 300 dollars. If you delay your brake service you could end up spending more than 1,200 dollars as the delay will cause more damage.
All You Need to Know About Commute
Travel time, distance, and gas prices have an impact on your annual commuting costs. Those who live in major metropolitan areas often have higher average gas prices and the longest commute times. These people spend between 1,000 and 1,500 dollars on gas per year.
On the other hand, those who live a little lower in more suburban locations have lower commute times and distances than those who live in major metropolitan areas. The average gas prices here are lower than in metropolitan areas. Commuters in such areas save an average of 10 to 20 minutes a day on the road and pay about 900 dollars per year on gas.
Even though commute distances in rural areas aren’t much different than urban and suburban locations, the lack of heavy urban traffic enables them to save 20-30 minutes per day compared to commuters in urban areas. Gas prices are lowest in these states and commuters in the rural areas can spend between 700 and 800 dollars per year on gas for their commute.
However, commuters in urban areas enjoy a benefit that those in rural and suburban areas do not have. While commuters who use mass transit options like trains and subways have longer commute times, they can save on commuting costs such as tolls, gas, car maintenance, and parking. Besides, mass transit enables workers to do something productive with their time and recover some of the lost opportunity costs.
Commuters in urban areas also have more options for ways to reduce their commute costs through commuter passes, railway loyalty programs, and so on. Those who do not live in urban areas are much more dependent on their cars and can be more sensitive to changes in the price of gas. Getting the right cashback credit card that will enable you to get extra rewards whenever you fuel up can be helpful.