Subway Service on Weekends Is F@#%ed
We long ago gave up trying to take the subway on the weekends. Life’s too short, so it’s the bicycle or car for us. This view was confirmed last weekend when it took an out-of-town friend an hour and a half on Saturday afternoon to get from Midtown to Clinton Hill. So it was no…
We long ago gave up trying to take the subway on the weekends. Life’s too short, so it’s the bicycle or car for us. This view was confirmed last weekend when it took an out-of-town friend an hour and a half on Saturday afternoon to get from Midtown to Clinton Hill. So it was no surprise to read this lede in The Post this morning: “Here’s a subway service notice: Use your car on the weekends!” A group called the Transit Riders Council has studied subway service over the past two weekends. The bottom line: “It’s bedlam,” said Andrew Albert, a member of the council as well as the MTA board.
Expect subway service disaster this weekend [NY Post]
Photo by Zach Klein
Zip cars used to make sense financially for full day or full day+ outings, and we used it as such.
About 1.5 years ago that changed. The prices went up significantly, so that as people mentioned here it cost as much or more as a regular rental car. The only advantage at that point is convenience…it’s much easier to schedule a zipcar pickup than to do the paperwork at a rental agency.
Even then the convenience factor has gone down as well. We’ve had two cases where the car came back so late that we had to pick up another car at another garage. Ugh. Plus the vehicles aren’t being maintained, every car we got within the past 24 months had one or more minor issues. No breakdowns thank God, but clearly Zipcar is stinting on basic maintenance and cleanup.
Having our own car parked nearby is a winner in every category, including financial. Again, so long as you get a used one in good shape, and you’ve got a spot for it. The key factor really is how much day/day+ usage you anticipate. The more of that the more likely it is to work out. For just plain regular city driving it almost certainly is a loss financially.
“No need to spend 10K on a car. You can find a very reliable car for $3-4K. One that you won’t worry about parking on the streets.”
I want a car I can take my wife and kid in for 200+ mile trips with reasonable comfort, safety, and fuel economy.
“If NorthSlopeRenter, you still live in the North Slope -”
No, I’m in center slope now, just haven’t changed my name yet.
The parking isn’t quite as bad here. I’ve been making a point of observing how many vacant spots I can see when walking around.
It is still pretty bad, but not as a bad as north slope. I assume because more of the buildings are 1/2/3 family instead of 3/4/5 family and because the streets are not through streets from 4th ave to flatbush.
Also, I won’t be driving every day, so I’ll only need to re-park 2 or 3 times a week.
No need to spend 10K on a car. You can find a very reliable car for $3-4K. One that you won’t worry about parking on the streets.
“$10,000 cost plus yearly operating expenses of $1,500, insurance $600, gas, $300 likely tickets = $12,400 / $$20 per car service ride = 620 car service trips or almost 2 per day!!!!!”
dave — yes, I’ve looked into the cost/benefit. You have to remember that the $10k initial cost is amortized over several years. Ideally the car would last 4-6 years, so I would put “annual cost of car ownership” at around $4000-$4500 ($2000 amortized purchase price + $2000-$2500 annual operating costs).
I currently spend over $2000/yr on car rentals, so that offsets a big chunk of the costs.
So, the real cost/benefit question is “would I having a car be worth $200/mo to me”?
I’m pretty sure the answer is ‘yes’.
I wouldn’t be using the car to commute. It would be for shopping on weekends and out of town trips. It would make taking the kid on vacation or to visit grandparents a cheaper and easier process and it would make buying heavy crap and getting it home a lot easier.
Plus, subway service in Brooklyn sucks on the weekends and looks like it is just going to get worse.
Also – does ZipCar have an EasyPass transponder? Or do you have to wait in the huge cash lines?
Yeah — i have friends who use Zipcar for long trips. And it’s baffling. Several times this summer a bunch of us went upstate for various activities (weddings, etc.) and I would see my friends arrive in a Zipcar. I asked them how much it costs for the weekend and it was OUTRAGEOUS. I don’t remember the number now, but I was utterly shocked. It was basically a 10-day rental from Hertz. I don’t know why they didn’t just get a regular rental… craziness.
(And don’t say free gas — I drove myself and gas was about $90 total)
Yes, chicken you’re right. I was being a bit overzealous in my example.
If the car effectively lasts 5 years then the yearly costs are $2,000 + $1,500 + $660 + $300 = $4,460 / $20 = 223 car rides or one every 1.6 days, or 4.2 rides per week.
The need for a car to get out of NYC is a real issue though, apart from this one of local travel for short trips.
good point tybur! Now where is that waiter with my luxury sauce?!