Thursday, October 7, 2010

What's Your Transit Score?

Transportation costs are an important — and often overlooked — factor when consumers consider moving to a new home. According to the Center for Neighborhood Technology, suburban households with little or no access to public transportation spend up to 32 percent of their income on transportation costs, while households in walkable areas with greater access to public transportation spend as little as 12 percent.

The website Walk Score has launched several tools to help consumers gauge the proximity of public transportation to a selected address, their commuting options and associated costs. The resulting Transit Score (www.walkscore.com/transit-score.php) rates an address on a scale of zero to 100 to indicate how well it is served by public transportation. Transit Score is currently available in 30 cities, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.


Custom commute reports give consumers a summary of commuting options for a specific location, such as driving, biking or walking, the estimated time it would take to arrive at that address and a list of nearby public transit stops and routes. By entering a few pieces of information, the transportation costs calculator generates an estimated monthly amount that consumers can expect to pay for housing and transportation.


As commute times and transit costs continue to grow, tools such as Transit Score can help you understand how the location of your home and workplace affects your daily life.




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