A lot of news commentators have been saying these days that the best way to save money on gas, is not the buy a fuel efficient car, but it's to use less of it. In fact, the number of people who take public transportation is up at its highest rate in over 50 years. But how much does it really save? I did some off-the-cuff calculations today and this is what I found for my own driving patterns:

Without public transportation, I drive about 300 miles/week, my car gets about 25 miles/gallon, and I pay about $4.00/gallon.

If I take the bus to school only two times a week, I decrease my weekly mileage to 250 miles/week. With everything else the same, I end up saving $8 per week on my gasoline bill. That equates to me paying $3.25/gallon on gas assuming I drove 300 miles that week!

Now granted, this is not a fair comparison because this depends on your personal driving habits and car mpg. In addition to that, the money savings comes at a loss of time (riding the bus) and convenience (no car during the day). For me, riding the bus adds about 30 minutes to my round trip commute and therefore the above example requires one hour to save $8. Most of you out there are making more than $8/hour and so the gas savings may not make economic sense for you. But consider the other positives here:

1. There's something psychologically satisfying knowing that you're paying almost the equivalent of $1 per gallon less than everyone else.

2. You can take a nap on the bus, read a book, share the Gospel with a stranger.

3. A penny saved is a penny earned. 

4*. Knowing that you are not only reducing your personal dependence on oil, but reducing your carbon footprint for the environment.

*And there's my one soapbox comment for the week.