The True Cost of Commuting from the Exurbs

A new study from ULI details the transportation costs for households around the San Francisco Bay Area, and finds that SFers spend on average $500 less each month than suburban dwellers in the area.

1 minute read

November 5, 2009, 1:00 PM PST

By Tim Halbur


The study was prepared by the Center for Neighborhood Technology in Chicago for the Urban Land Institute.

"In San Francisco, for instance, a household with the median city income of $66,523 has estimated monthly transportation costs of $792. In nearby cities the monthly estimate remains in triple digits, such as Berkeley ($858) or Sausalito ($885).

For families in more distant automobile-reliant suburbs, though, the monthly transportation costs spike. The estimate for Antioch is $1,311, for instance, while in Livermore it's $1,281. Cities with little connection to transit also suffer - such as Pacifica, where a household's monthly transportation is estimated to cost $1,246."

Thursday, November 5, 2009 in The San Francisco Chronicle

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