121: Long-Range Green Commuting

I recently had to spend a couple of weekends in a city about 200 miles a way.  Two of us traveled there by car; I figure per passenger $20 for gas and $17 for fixed and maintenance costs (not including depreciation and other "soft" costs).  So $37.  And five hours since we timed it to hit rush hours for three cities and a large military base.

Coming back, I took Amtrack for $46, 3.5 hours, on time beginning and end. Walked the 3.5 miles home in 75 minutes (mostly uphill with short stops along the way for a pizza by the slice joint and later for a milkshake at Dick's, thereby removing any health advantage I might have gained by walking).

Returning the next weekend, jogging (I thought I was late) to the 3.5 miles to the BOLT bus stop, with just a $26 fare, and a 3 hour travel time (though a 30 minute late start), and notably less comfortable than the train.

Next time?  Driving a car that gets 40 mpg hiway instead of 20 would bring the car cost to $27, comparable to the bus.  But when including environmental factors, Amtrak wins. The respective CO2 emissions (in kg per mile) for gas-driven car, bus, and rail are 0.44, 0.3, and 0.16.  Hybrids or all-electrics could change this but probably not by a factor of 3.