BWI - PHL Commute

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Gene girl

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What do you think of commuting from BWI to Philly? Crazy? Or doable?
 
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What do you think of commuting from BWI to Philly? Crazy? Or doable?
It's doable, but not cheap. A monthly pass cost $1,116. The pass allows unlimited rides in a calendar month. One plus with the pass is that you do not need reservations. You can just walk up and board virtually any train other than Acela Express. The full list of trains excluded from monthly pass use is HERE.
 
Doesn't sound too bad as long as your total commute doesn't add that much time. What is your commute to/from BWI? Once you get to PHL how far is your work and how long will it take?

The other thing to consider is train timing and the work enviorment. Do you need to be there a set number of hours or is it somewhat flexible? Can you adjust your hours to fit the train schedule?
 
What do you think of commuting from BWI to Philly? Crazy? Or doable?
This type of commute is not uncommon. For five years I worked for the federal government in DC. During that time I would travel on Friday to NYP after work often to visit my family. On my 5:00 PM train there were a number of DC commuters returning home to Wilmington and Philadelphia.
 
Commuting by Amtrak is expensive. I dont know why anyone would do it. 40 dollars one way between Philly and DC is the cheapest I can find.
 
Commuting by Amtrak is expensive. I dont know why anyone would do it. 40 dollars one way between Philly and DC is the cheapest I can find.
Because it is around 100 miles. At 0.55 per mile it costs $55 to drive + parking and tolls.

I think the biggest questions is what is the maximum amount of time you are willing to commute.
 
BWI-PHL is a long commute whether you drive it or you train it, but considering it is 108 miles to drive, which in traffic will easily take 2 or 2.5 hours, and that if you get 20 mpg, and gas is $4/gallon, you're looking at about $22 in gas each way, so $44 total. Plus it's at least $15 to park for the day, right? So now you're up to $59 a day.

Now there's about 22 work days in a month, right? So at $1116, it would cost $50.73 per day. With Amtrak, you'd save about $8 a day, and you could get work done while you're commuting. Or you could sleep during your commute. Which, by the way, is only about 1:25, instead of 2:00-2:30 for driving.

Sounds like it's worth it to me, as long as the job actually pays enough that it's worth making such a long commute in the first place.
 
BWI-PHL is a long commute whether you drive it or you train it, but considering it is 108 miles to drive, which in traffic will easily take 2 or 2.5 hours, and that if you get 20 mpg, and gas is $4/gallon, you're looking at about $22 in gas each way, so $44 total. Plus it's at least $15 to park for the day, right? So now you're up to $59 a day.

Now there's about 22 work days in a month, right? So at $1116, it would cost $50.73 per day. With Amtrak, you'd save about $8 a day, and you could get work done while you're commuting. Or you could sleep during your commute. Which, by the way, is only about 1:25, instead of 2:00-2:30 for driving.

Sounds like it's worth it to me, as long as the job actually pays enough that it's worth making such a long commute in the first place.
Thank you for taking the time to do some math for us. :)
 
It's crazier to commute by airliner, you know. Maybe the OP would save some money by using Greyhound. Nothing against trains.
The problem with greyhound is that they don't offer monthly passes IINM. Not to mention they only leave from downtown Baltimore. With Amtrak when you arrive at PHL you can hop on a Septa train to any Center City station and show your Amtrak ticket. Greyhound doesn't offer that in Philly. They drop you off in the area of Market East and say go. If the OP was to use Greyhound it's a long ride between BAL and PHL. Not to mention the possibility of traffic. At least on the NEC you know your going to get there and you can earn points.
 
BWI-PHL is a long commute whether you drive it or you train it, but considering it is 108 miles to drive, which in traffic will easily take 2 or 2.5 hours, and that if you get 20 mpg, and gas is $4/gallon, you're looking at about $22 in gas each way, so $44 total. Plus it's at least $15 to park for the day, right? So now you're up to $59 a day.

Now there's about 22 work days in a month, right? So at $1116, it would cost $50.73 per day. With Amtrak, you'd save about $8 a day, and you could get work done while you're commuting. Or you could sleep during your commute. Which, by the way, is only about 1:25, instead of 2:00-2:30 for driving.

Sounds like it's worth it to me, as long as the job actually pays enough that it's worth making such a long commute in the first place.
If you have a car that gives 20 mpg on highway, you probably shouldn't be driving it 100 miles! Most newer cars give much more than that. You can check how much your roundtrip commute would cost in gas on the Trip Cost Calculator at gasbuddy.com. For example, if I plug in my 2012 Honda Civic, the roundtrip cost of a commute from BWI to PHL and back would come to around $23. Of course this is an extreme example since my car is new and gives 39 mpg on highway, but even for a moderately good car, the gas cost would come to around $25 to $30 roundtrip. Also, if the office is not smack in downtown, it is likely to have employee parking so that additional $15 a day doesn't need to be added. So we are looking at around $600 per month for a 22 workday period, compared to $1116 by Amtrak. So yes, Amtrak is expensive than driving BUT with two major advantages- 1) no need to pull hair in frustration driving in crazy I-95 traffic, and 2) the commute will take less time than driving. So, its a tradeoff- around $500 per month vs peace of mind.
 
If you have a car that gives 20 mpg on highway, you probably shouldn't be driving it 100 miles! Most newer cars give much more than that. You can check how much your roundtrip commute would cost in gas on the Trip Cost Calculator at gasbuddy.com. For example, if I plug in my 2012 Honda Civic, the roundtrip cost of a commute from BWI to PHL and back would come to around $23. Of course this is an extreme example since my car is new and gives 39 mpg on highway, but even for a moderately good car, the gas cost would come to around $25 to $30 roundtrip. Also, if the office is not smack in downtown, it is likely to have employee parking so that additional $15 a day doesn't need to be added. So we are looking at around $600 per month for a 22 workday period, compared to $1116 by Amtrak. So yes, Amtrak is expensive than driving BUT with two major advantages- 1) no need to pull hair in frustration driving in crazy I-95 traffic, and 2) the commute will take less time than driving. So, its a tradeoff- around $500 per month vs peace of mind.
Have you considered tolls, parking, insurance, general maintenance and upkeep of the vehicle to get true cost of this mission as opposed to just gas cost? How does it work out with that? I genuinely do not know. Just wondering aloud.

IRS these days allows fully amortized cost of $0.55 per mile as the true cost of operating an average automobile. Using that the cost would be $55 each way, that IRS would allow someone to reimburse without facing any tax consequences.

I have no idea how accurate that is for an average car. I in my Prius would spend considerably less purely on gas, toll and maintenance. But when I add in the present value of the money required to purchase the car it becomes another story altogether. :) More fairly though, since I already have the car, perhaps the cost that should be allocated to the trip should be for the number of days earlier that I would have to get a new car for doing such commute than if I did not, or some such. It gets complicated.
 
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If you have a car that gives 20 mpg on highway, you probably shouldn't be driving it 100 miles! Most newer cars give much more than that. You can check how much your roundtrip commute would cost in gas on the Trip Cost Calculator at gasbuddy.com. For example, if I plug in my 2012 Honda Civic, the roundtrip cost of a commute from BWI to PHL and back would come to around $23. Of course this is an extreme example since my car is new and gives 39 mpg on highway, but even for a moderately good car, the gas cost would come to around $25 to $30 roundtrip. Also, if the office is not smack in downtown, it is likely to have employee parking so that additional $15 a day doesn't need to be added. So we are looking at around $600 per month for a 22 workday period, compared to $1116 by Amtrak. So yes, Amtrak is expensive than driving BUT with two major advantages- 1) no need to pull hair in frustration driving in crazy I-95 traffic, and 2) the commute will take less time than driving. So, its a tradeoff- around $500 per month vs peace of mind.
Have you considered tolls, parking, insurance, general maintenance and upkeep of the vehicle to get true cost of this mission as opposed to just gas cost? How does it work out with that? I genuinely do not know. Just wondering aloud.

IRS these days allows fully amortized cost of $0.55 per mile as the true cost of operating an average automobile. Using that the cost would be $55 each way, that IRS would allow someone to reimburse without facing any tax consequences.

I have no idea how accurate that is for an average car. I in my Prius would spend considerably less purely on gas, toll and maintenance. But when I add in the present value of the money required to purchase the car it becomes another story altogether. :) More fairly though, since I already have the car, perhaps the cost that should be allocated to the trip should be for the number of days earlier that I would have to get a new car for doing such commute than if I did not, or some such. It gets complicated.
I'm not a tax professional, but I'm pretty sure the IRS doesn't allow you to write off the cost of getting to and from work, only unreimbursed travel expenses AT work.

Also, for those doing the math, factor in the $9 per day it costs to park in the BWI garage.
 
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IRS these days allows fully amortized cost of $0.55 per mile as the true cost of operating an average automobile. Using that the cost would be $55 each way, that IRS would allow someone to reimburse without facing any tax consequences.

I have no idea how accurate that is for an average car. I in my Prius would spend considerably less purely on gas, toll and maintenance. But when I add in the present value of the money required to purchase the car it becomes another story altogether. :) More fairly though, since I already have the car, perhaps the cost that should be allocated to the trip should be for the number of days earlier that I would have to get a new car for doing such commute than if I did not, or some such. It gets complicated.
The IRS 55.5 cent per mile allowance, used for business travel deductions, includes both ownership and operation costs. The ownership portion includes annual estimates for depreciation, insurance and interest divided by an estimate for annual mileage. The ownership costs are primarily fixed costs. Including fixed costs is not really valid as a means to figure the cost of a specific trip. A better estimate for the actual cost of operating a car for a given trip is the IRS mileage rate for medical and moving puposes. That rate, 23 cents per mile for 2012, only includes variable costs.
 
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I'm not a tax professional, but I'm pretty sure the IRS doesn't allow you to write off the cost of getting to and from work, only unreimbursed travel expenses AT work.
That is true but irrelevant to the point I was making. I was just using the IRS numbers as a benchmark for the cost of operating an automobile.

Also, for those doing the math, factor in the $9 per day it costs to park in the BWI garage.
Quite true.
 
I am in the process of evaluating to replace car. it is a 9 year old Hyunda Sonata with 120,000 miles. I calculated that the cost per mile over the 9 years was about 48 cents per mile,. Keep in mind this car is a lower priced car, gets fairly good gas milage, and I have had minimal problems with the car. I can see people driving huge, expensive SUV's having a much greater than my calculated cost per mile and it probably is over the 55 cents.

I understand the the 55 cents is for bussiness deductions and you can't deduct driving to work but I feel it is a good rule of thumb to use of what your car costs to operate. You can use the 23 cents for an occasional use. That 23 cents assumes that the cost to operate will not increase your fixed costs. If you drive 200 miles a day for work and don't include the fixed costs, your car will wear out earlier or need repairs and you will not have included these espensis.

Of course all these numbers have alot of variables. Some people don't mind driving car with 200k miles on it for long trips, others will not. Doing repairs yourself may save money. Do you have a good car that never needs repairs or one that is always having problems? Some cars get 15 miles to the gallon, others get 40. Some people live in states with low insurance, others live in states with higher rates and they may have had accidents/tickets to drive the cost up. Some states like PA you pay $36 a year for registration. Others you pay based on what the car's value is. Some states have inspection (some have emissions), others do not. On a 65mph road, some drive 90, others drive 55.
 
Thanks for the responses! I am thinking of taking a position at Penn, which I believe is close to the Penn station in Philly. One of my colleagues has said that the trains are cancelled a lot, is this true? This is a colleague that wants me to stay at Hopkins so I am trying to figure out how much truth there is to this criticism to Amtrak. Thanks!
 
I am in the process of evaluating to replace car. it is a 9 year old Hyunda Sonata with 120,000 miles. I calculated that the cost per mile over the 9 years was about 48 cents per mile,. Keep in mind this car is a lower priced car, gets fairly good gas milage, and I have had minimal problems with the car. I can see people driving huge, expensive SUV's having a much greater than my calculated cost per mile and it probably is over the 55 cents.
I drive a Chevy Suburban and the numbers break down like this:

Fuel costs: $0.24/mile (that's an average based on the last 40,000 miles, which is as far back as my data goes. Current costs w/ gas @$4.00/gal is closer to $0.28/mile)

Repair costs: $0.04/mile

I'm still paying on the loan for the truck, so I'm not sure how accurate the purchase cost is (or how it will change as I continue to increase the miles/payments.

I put about $9,000 down on the truck (trade in and cash) and have paid $7600 in car payments over the last 3 years. I've put just over 50,000 miles on the truck in that time, so that works out to $0.33/mile.

I also pay $800/year in car insurance, which tacks on an extra $0.05/mile

That would make my total cost to operate $0.66/mile.

It's interesting to me that even at 14 MPG that the fuel costs are less than the cost of the vehicle itself. That would suggest that if you're interested in economizing, that the purchase cost of the vehicle should take just as much priority as getting something that gets good fuel mileage.
 
Thanks for the responses! I am thinking of taking a position at Penn, which I believe is close to the Penn station in Philly. One of my colleagues has said that the trains are cancelled a lot, is this true? This is a colleague that wants me to stay at Hopkins so I am trying to figure out how much truth there is to this criticism to Amtrak. Thanks!
Your colleague must want you to stay. Or not know much about Amtrak.
 
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Thanks for the responses! I am thinking of taking a position at Penn, which I believe is close to the Penn station in Philly. One of my colleagues has said that the trains are cancelled a lot, is this true? This is a colleague that wants me to stay at Hopkins so I am trying to figure out how much truth there is to this criticism to Amtrak. Thanks!
Trains cancelled a lot? On the NE Corridor? Nothing could be farther to truth than that! In fact when weather plays spoilsport and roads are closed and flights cancelled, Amtrak still keeps running. I had experienced this first hand last winter. It was one of those huge snowstorms that plundered NY-NJ-Philly. Delta cancelled my flight, Megabus cancelled their bus to Washington DC, next day Delta again cancelled the flight, again Megabus did not turn up, but Amtrak proved to be my savior- the NE Regionals were up and running. It was quite an experience seeing the train blast through a foot of snow at 125 miles/hr :D
 
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It's interesting to me that even at 14 MPG that the fuel costs are less than the cost of the vehicle itself. That would suggest that if you're interested in economizing, that the purchase cost of the vehicle should take just as much priority as getting something that gets good fuel mileage.
That's true. This is one of the reasons why the Chevy Volt bombed. Even if one goes by their claims that it gives some huge ginormous MPG, it still makes no sense paying $39,995 for it when one can get pretty good MPGs no new compact cars these days. For example, I purchased a 2012 Honda Civic almost a year back and it lives up to the company's claim of 39 mpg on the highway, in fact exceeds it. Last weekend I drove from Dallas to Austin and back. Just to check the performance, I filled gas just before hitting I-35 in Austin and by the time I reached home in Plano, north of Dallas, I had a superb 44.4 MPG showing up on the display, and this was in normal weekend traffic on 35, not some special test conditions. Considering I filled up at $3.79 per gallon, the drive cost me 8.5 cents per mile. Compare this with Volt- even if I drive it completely on electricity and assuming the ideal situation where I own a solar panel to get free electricity to charge the car, I would have to drive the car 250,000 miles just to recover the additional $20,000 that Volt costs over Honda Civic, and then the electric car starts saving money for me. Ugh.

Sorry for going so off-topic.
 
It's doable, but not cheap. A monthly pass cost $1,116. The pass allows unlimited rides in a calendar month. One plus with the pass is that you do not need reservations. You can just walk up and board virtually any train other than Acela Express. The full list of trains excluded from monthly pass use is HERE.
What explains the seemingly random Regional train exclusions?
 
Okay, since you are all so awesome at responding to my questions, here's another thought: how realistic is it to roll over guest rewards for free travel. I do wish that Amtrak had a more stream-line program for those that commute. For example, buy 3 monthly passes and get one free. That would help with the high cost of using the train. For me, the train is great because I can work while commuting on the train and the stop is close to work/home on both sides but I need to mentally work through how much this is really going to cost (and if there are any tricks/tips to saving some $$). Thanks all!
 
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