Car vs Public Transport Calculator
Compare driving with a season ticket on money and on time, over a year.
The comparison that matters is not the fare against the fuel bill, because the fuel bill is the smallest part of running a car. Insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation are paid whether you drive to work or not.
Enter the full cost of the car and the full cost of the season ticket, with the time each takes, and this calculator shows the annual difference in money and in hours.
At a glance
- What you enter
- Commuting days per month, Round trip distance by car, Running cost per mile, Parking per day, Annual fixed car costs, Public transport cost per month, Extra fares per year, Journey minutes by car, Journey minutes by public transport, What an hour of your time is worth
- What you get
- Car cost per year, Public transport cost per year, Difference per year, Extra hours per year on the slower option, Value of that time
- Formula shown
- Yes - every step, right below your results.
- Cost and privacy
- Free, no account needed, and nothing you type is stored.
See worked examples ↓ Read the FAQ ↓ Share this calculator ↓
Results are estimates for general information only - always verify with a professional or official source before acting on them.
How to use the Car vs Public Transport Calculator
- 1 Enter Commuting days per month
- 2 Enter Round trip distance by car (miles)
- 3 Enter Running cost per mile
- 4 Enter Parking per day
- 5 Enter Annual fixed car costs - Insurance, road tax, servicing and the depreciation you attribute to commuting.
- 6 Enter Public transport cost per month
- 7 Enter Extra fares per year - Journeys the pass does not cover.
- 8 Enter Journey minutes by car (minutes)
- 9 Enter Journey minutes by public transport (minutes)
- 10 Enter What an hour of your time is worth
- 11 Press Calculate. You get Car cost per year, Public transport cost per year, Difference per year, Extra hours per year on the slower option, Value of that time, and every intermediate step stays visible under “How is this calculated?”
- 12 Change one number at a time to see what moves the result - that is usually the most useful thing a calculator can tell you.
Worked examples
Real numbers run through this calculator. Open any example to load it into the form above and change it.
A 24 mile round trip against a $110 monthly pass
Twenty commuting days a month, a $3,200 annual fixed cost and a $20 hourly value.
You enter
- Commuting days per month
- 20
- Round trip distance by car
- 24 miles
- Running cost per mile
- $0.42
- Parking per day
- $7.00
- Annual fixed car costs
- $3,200.00
- Public transport cost per month
- $110.00
- Extra fares per year
- $180.00
- Journey minutes by car
- 32 minutes
- Journey minutes by public transport
- 58 minutes
- What an hour of your time is worth
- $20.00
You get
- Car cost per year
- $7,299.20
- Public transport cost per year
- $1,500.00
- Difference per year
- $5,799.20
- Extra hours per year on the slower option
- 104.00 hours
- Value of that time
- $2,080.00
The car covers 5,760 commuting miles a year, which is 48% of 12,000. Mileage and parking cost $4,099.20 and the fixed costs add $3,200, so driving comes to $7,299.20 a year, or $30.41 for each commuting day. The pass and extra fares come to $1,500, so public transport is cheaper by $5,799.20. The car takes 128 hours a year and public transport 232, a difference of 104 hours worth $2,080 at your rate, which still leaves the pass well ahead.
An 8 mile round trip against a $160 monthly pass
A short journey with no parking charge, where the car wins on money but loses on time.
You enter
- Commuting days per month
- 12
- Round trip distance by car
- 8 miles
- Running cost per mile
- $0.30
- Parking per day
- $0.00
- Annual fixed car costs
- $1,800.00
- Public transport cost per month
- $160.00
- Extra fares per year
- $0.00
- Journey minutes by car
- 25 minutes
- Journey minutes by public transport
- 40 minutes
- What an hour of your time is worth
- $25.00
You get
- Car cost per year
- $2,145.60
- Public transport cost per year
- $1,920.00
- Difference per year
- $225.60
- Extra hours per year on the slower option
- 36.00 hours
- Value of that time
- $900.00
This commute is only 1,152 miles a year, or 9.6% of 12,000. Mileage costs $345.60 and the fixed costs add $1,800, so the car comes to $2,145.60 against $1,920 for the pass: the car is $225.60 a year more expensive. The car takes 60 hours a year and public transport 96, so the slower option costs 36 hours, which is $900 at your rate. Counting the time reverses the money answer and makes the car the better option by $674.40.
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Frequently asked questions
Should the annual fixed car costs be in this comparison?
They are included in full, and that is the right treatment only if you would not own a car at all without the commute. Insurance, road tax, servicing and the depreciation you attribute to commuting are paid whether you drive to work or not, so counting all of them loads the comparison against the car.
If you would keep the car regardless, enter only the share you judge to be caused by commuting, and be honest with yourself about that share. The calculator cannot make the judgement for you, and it is the single assumption that changes the answer most.
Is the public transport figure monthly or annual?
Monthly. The pass cost is multiplied by twelve and the extra fares field is added as an annual amount, because a season ticket is quoted per month and odd journeys are easier to count over a year. A $110 pass with $180 of extra fares is $1,500 a year, which is the figure the comparison uses.
Check what the pass actually covers before entering it. Zonal tickets, peak restrictions and a separate charge for a tram or a ferry leg are common, and each one belongs in extra fares rather than in the headline pass price.
What does the hours difference measure?
It is the extra time the slower option takes over a year, valued at the rate you set. The car journey and the public transport journey are each converted to annual hours, and the difference is multiplied by your hourly value. A 32 minute car journey against a 58 minute transit journey over 240 commuting days is 104 extra hours a year.
Those 104 hours are worth whatever you decide they are worth, and there is no right answer. The point of showing them separately is that the money difference and the time difference often point in opposite directions, and seeing both is what makes the choice a choice rather than a guess.
Why does the calculator mention 12,000 miles?
Because the commuting mileage is shown as a share of a typical annual mileage, which is the fastest way to see whether this journey is a small part of your driving or most of it. A 24 mile round trip on 240 working days is 5,760 miles, which is 48% of 12,000.
That matters because the fixed costs of a car are spread across all the miles it does. When commuting is most of the mileage, attributing most of the fixed costs to the commute is reasonable. When it is a tenth, most of those costs belong to the rest of your driving.