Times are tough in Hampton Roads, as in America. Families are looking to stretch their hard earned dollars to maintain a quality level of life. When it comes to transportation though, cutting costs and evaluating other mobility options by families can be a complicated task.

There is help!

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has made available a Transit Savings Calculator. The calculator provides a resource to easily calculate whether you can get a bang for your buck driving to work or hopping on a bus to work. Assuming the average fuel efficiency in cars in America plus the average round-trip commute, fuel costs, parking costs and transit fares in Hampton Roads, a driver can save over $400 annually switching to transit. The calculator can be accessed on APTA's website here. Additionally, switching to transit is environmentally friendly, with the potential to remove approximately 100 pounds of carbon emissions weekly for the average Hampton Roads driver. More information on calculating your commute's footprint and how transit can lessen it can be found here.

Bike Metro, a biking resource in Southern California, has also made available a Bike Savings Calculator that can help decide whether to take two versus four wheels to work. Under similar commuting attributes considered for transit savings in Hampton Roads, a single driver switching to a bike can anticipate over $600 in monthly savings. More information on calculating biking cost benefits can be found here. As with transit, biking shares similar environmental benefits, plus has the added health benefits to the user.

Not sure where to start in altering your single occupancy commute in Hampton Roads? TRAFFIX, a cooperative public service designed to promote transportation alternatives can help. TRAFFIX helps users get information on public transportation options, connect to carpools and vanpools, provides a guaranteed ride home program, rewards users for alternative commuting, and provides resources to setup telework from your employer. More information on TRAFFIX can be found here.