Abogo and the Cost of Commuting from the Suburbs

ABOGO (Abogo is a tool that lets you discover how transportation impacts the affordability and sustainability of where you live)

Also discussed here: Abogo Cities: Helping You Live a Low Transportation Cost Life

And here: “Cheap” Seattle Suburbs Aren’t Cheap if You Drive (Erica C. Barnett, Publicola, Mar. 24, 2011)

Today’s post highlights an internet service to estimate the cost of living in or around and far from the centre of cities, based on the cost of transportation- expressed both in terms of dollar costs/month and greenhouse gas emissions. The sample shown below compares the costs for a location in Manhattan, New York City which is $336 and ¼ ton per month (similar costs for areas shown in green) with the longer commutes to the west and east (where red represents over $1000/month). Different estimates (with higher resolution) may be made for other American cities. It clearly shows the savings possible from urban living.



Key Quotes:

“Abogo measures the money an average household from your region living in your neighborhood would spend getting around, including car ownership, car use, and transit use. It also tells you what the CO2 generated by this car use would be. With this information, you can measure the true cost and impact of where you live”

“the typical definition of “affordable” housing—which tends to be in far-flung suburbs that require long drives along sprawling freeways to get to work—includes only the cost of a rent or mortgage and ignores the cost of transportation—which, in the suburbs, can amount to more than half of household income”

“living further from the city because it’s “cheaper” is a false choice”

Related articles

• 40 Blogs About Living in the Burbs (changeofaddress.org)
• Newsflash: Highways Are Handouts for Developers, Too (streetsblog.net)
• 18 Cities Where The Suburbs Are Rapidly Turning Into Slums (businessinsider.com)
• St. Louis: Plenty of Highways, Little Congestion, Long Commutes (streetsblog.net)
• L.A., S.F., D.C. 'burbs have the worst commutes (msnbc.msn.com)
• First Suburbs - Thursday, April 14th (pottstownclt.wordpress.com)
• Reflections on a Long-Distance Commute (seattletransitblog.com)
• Children Playing on the Street Makes a Community Resilient (psychologytoday.com)
• Urban Emissions of Greenhouse Gases (pollutionfree.wordpress.com)
• 'Burbs bigger greenhouse gas emitters than inner city (thestar.com)