Allright guys, I landed this new job in the University of Texas Professional building, awesome job....I love it. Ok, they wanted to deduct $80 bucks from my paycheck for parking and they pay the other half. I really don't want to pay that. So...........I was debating on whether to do the park and ride. Ok, I was doing my searches and came up with taking the Maxey Park and ride (I live like a minute from it) and going to Main and Woods to transfer to the Metrorail; then going in the TMC Transit which (I think) will put me in front of my my building. I have to be to work at 8 a.m. The Park and Ride costs are $1.50 each way and metro rail is $1 each way. Do you think its worth it or any other suggestions would be appreciated. Please remember I have to come back to the Maxey Park and Ride. Also, I was reading on the website about free transfers and didn't really understand. I have never been on a Metro bus, I barely understand all the info on their site, any info would help greatly. Thanks in advance. Tim
Ask them if you can expense the park and ride / metro. Some companies will to promote carpooling. Count up what riding the park and ride / metro is going to cost per day and then multiply by 22 for the month and see where it comes out compared to the $80. Also consider the gas you would save. Personally, I like driving to my destination, but that's just me.
You also need to factor in the extra time the public transportaions and transfers will cost you. Ride the route a couple of times and see how long it really takes.
I started using park and ride about a month ago and love it. It would normally take me a 30 minute drive to Bellaire from Aldine, and it takes an hour to ride the bus but I hate driving and the bus ride isn't so bad. I saved about $90 last month on gas.
Check into UT's Mobility Program. They pay for 60% of a month's bus fare, up to a certain amount. They deduct half the remaining amount from each paycheck pre tax. They load the total amount on to a Q Card that they issue to you. I pay about $15 a month to ride 40 times. The Q Card is how you pay your fare and how you transfer between buses/light rail for free. I recommend using trip planner on their website. http://www.ridemetro.org/
Well, I work for a Dr.'s Office who will pay half of anywhere I park. Can I still use the UT Mobility Program if I don't work for UT.
Ask if the money that they have committed (in a budgetary sense) to paying half of your parking can be applied instead to a Metro <I>Q Card</I>.
My company pays 20% of our Q-Card funds. So when I put $50 on my card, they only charge me $40. Plus Metro gives you 5 free rides for every $50 you spend. So basically, I get about 8 free rides for every $50 I spend. Pretty sweet. The way the transfers work is when you swipe your card on the park and ride bus, you can swipe it as many times as you want for the next hour without it taking any more money out. That's what they mean by "free transfers". On the way home, I swipe it on the local bus for $1 and when I get on my park and ride bus, it only takes out $2 (instead of $3). I'm pretty sure the transfers don't apply to the rail though. I spend $6 (plus all those free rides I mentioned earlier) getting from Kingwood to Downtown and back. I KNOW that's MUCH cheaper than paying for gas and parking. I've been doing it for a year now and I LOVE it. Takes me longer to get to work, but it's totally worth it. I hate driving in Houston.
Sweet, thanks guys for all the input......Im going to do this; try it out for a month. If I get to the P&R at 6:30 (would normally leave at 7:00) and ride the 137 local and transfer at the metro rail for free at Main and Wood, its $1; plus I get to work at 7:37 in which I have to be there at 8 am. Then the return trip on the rail is another $1 in which I have to be there at 4:38 and the free transfer at Main & Wood to 137 would take me to the P&R. Two dollars to ride, and my company reimburses half. I would be home at 5:41, got home today at 5:25. Not to bad. I think I'll try this out for a while. Plus, I think someone said that you get 5 trips free after 50. Thats cool.
