Are we paying too much for public transport?

I’ve been thinking recently amount costs relating to transport.

It will cost me $6 for a return bus ticket and $6.80 for a return train ticket. Amounts to $12.80 a day.

If I buy a travel 10 bus ticket and a city weekly train ticket, it will cost me $10.40 a day (assuming a Mon-Fri week).

If I buy a green weekly travel pass, it will cost me $8.60 a day (again, assuming a Mon-Fri week).

If I decide to drive to the city, it is approximately 20km from my house and assuming I’m driving a car that has an efficiency of 10L/100km, it will cost me $5.60 a day. This is with the assumption that petrol is $1.40/L and I travel 40km (to and fro).

To me, it seems that driving to work is a winner (if you exclude parking costs). So how come people are flocking in on the public transport system and trains are getting more crammed on a continuous basis? Everyday I feel like I’m in a can of sardines.

I think the media and Cityrail perhaps have provided a misconception that travelling by public transport is more cost effective. And let me tell you this, public transport fares ain’t going down with the demand of oil decreasing, pushing down the oil prices to around US$113 a barrel.

CityRail’s 14 Day RailPass

I really don’t get it. Their marketing ploy for it is,

The 14 Day RailPass is exactly twice the price of a 7 Day RailPass and there’s no application form to fill out!

That’s not that great to be honest. Offers no savings whatsoever. Ok ok, there’s no application form. Big whoop. Only takes 2 minutes to fill out. I’m sure we have 2 minutes to spare.

Why not market the other passes as,

The yearly Railpass is exactly 52 times the price of a 7 Day RailPass! No hassles of queueing up anymore!

I wonder how their sales are doing though with the amount of investment they’ve put into advertising it.