nk1 t1_j45bzzl wrote on January 13, 2023 at 7:07 AM

You definitely want JC. Maybe it’s just personal experience but something weird or bad always manages to happen to me when I end up in Hoboken. As others have said, it’s pretty fratty and straight there.

I’d say look at a cheaper apartment and consider getting a car. I commute a little bit further than Madison for 3 days a week and despite all my qualms with cars, it is far faster than the 2 hours 15 minutes each way that I’d need to do if I stuck with PATH+NJT. Plus it comes in handy when going outside the NYC transit footprint. Alternate side parking is not really a pain in the ass when you have to move it 3 days a week anyway. It ends up being more than what transit would cost me per month but I did the 2-hour-each-way transit commute in Chicago and I don’t think I’d go back…

I’d recommend near Grove St or Journal Square cuz those neighborhoods are the two that have PATH stops with both midtown and downtown service to/from them 24/7.

ffejie t1_j45dbif wrote on January 13, 2023 at 7:22 AM

Just ranting here, but how broken are we that in a transit rich community, a simple commute like yours is either ~45 min in a car or 2h15m across two separate systems and probably 3 transfers?

It's probably cheaper to have the car, when you consider how expensive an NJT monthly and a PATH monthly would be.

nk1 t1_j45ex12 wrote on January 13, 2023 at 7:42 AM

Oh it drives me totally insane. The car works out to being more expensive for sure though in my case.

$438/mo for NJT Rail (which includes unlimited bus access) and $110.25/mo for unlimited PATH. So $548.25/mo for transit.

My car is $528/mo. Insurance is $113/mo. Gas based on my last fill-up is $66/mo. Then there’s yearly maintenance costs. It’s a Honda so it doesn’t need much but let’s say $300/year so $25/mo. That’s a total of $732/mo.

The car ends up being $183.75/mo more than transit. I’d love to take the train and not have to focus on driving but the time lost in between is just too much for me. With the car, I can make it back to JC in time to go to events going on here or in NYC. Getting back after 7pm makes that harder.

ffejie t1_j45jrdt wrote on January 13, 2023 at 8:44 AM

The car is $528/mo lease? Or is that the payment to own?

Thanks for the detailed numbers. I love seeing the comparison.

nk1 t1_j45jwzx wrote on January 13, 2023 at 8:46 AM

It’s to own. I didn’t have much credit history before it so that’s why my payment is higher. Still a perfectly plausible situation for lots of people.

ffejie t1_j45k7nj wrote on January 13, 2023 at 8:50 AM

Yeah absolutely plausible - and frankly still a cheaper car payment than many. One thing to remember is in a few years, you'll have the car paid off and hopefully still functioning (or could trade it in). So technically, you are building a small amount of equity with your current payments. It probably works out to about even vs. transit, if you assume you'll have a $10K car at the end of 5 years of payments.