I just went on an 11 day trip to Washington DC, Richmond, VA and Williamsburg, VA. I decided, because of the cost of gas and parking, and to avoid some wear and tear on my car, I would take the bus and train on this trip. Figured out by doing this and relying on public transportation and tour buses in these cities, I would save a lot of money and a lot of driving stress. However, there were a few things I did not consider when making this plan.
Before booking my tickets, I estimated my cost for gas and parking. This didn’t include any local driving. The round trip was just shy of 800 miles, also not including any local driving. I estimated I was saving about $200 by not driving.
- My car isn’t the most fuel efficient. I get about 23 MPG highway. My car has a 19 gallon tank. If I average $4.30 a gallon, I would be spending about $150 on gas.
- I would need to pay for parking at 2 of the 3 hotels I was staying at. The first hotel was $65 a night for 3 nights, and there were no other garages nearby. The second hotel didn’t even have on-site parking and would have been about $20 a night for 5 nights. I’d be spending at least $290 on parking.
- I was looking at almost $450 on gas and parking alone
The costs of taking the bus and train were significantly cheaper.
- I took the Greyhound from Pittsburgh to Washington DC for $41.
- I took an Amtrak Connector Bus from Washington DC to Richmond, VA for $14. This is a temporary solution while Amtrak improves the Virginia rail system.
- I took the Amtrak Floridian line from Richmond, VA, back to Pittsburgh for $109.
- I spent $13 total on public transportation. Public transportation in Richmond, VA is free, and all my transportation in Williamsburg, VA was with the tour group.
- I needed to use rideshares a few times. This came to about $70.
- I spent an approximate total of $240.
Here are my pros and cons of taking the bus or train on a long trip…