Throw away the crutch

This piece of plastic costs me $90 per month.

Okay, since I pay for it by payroll deduction, it actually costs me $76.50 per month, after taxes. But that's still over $900 per year! That's $900 that could be feeding the hungry or paying down my student loans. But what does this piece of plastic do instead?

It gives me the right to park my car in Berkeley.

That's right. I am paying $900 per year for the privilege of storing my car outside my office every day, when I have a perfectly good garage to store it in at home!

I've been trying to bike to work more. I made a commitment to myself at the beginning of the winter that I would bike at least once a week, even when it was cold and rainy. With the exception of the week where I was home sick with the plague, I kept that commitment. But only just. I've biked one, maybe two days all through the winter. Why am I not biking five days a week? Because this piece of plastic is my crutch.

Since I've sunk the money into the parking pass, I have an out. It's a sunk cost, why not use it?

I'm throwing away the crutch. Sometime before March 10 (when monthly benefit enrollments happen), I am marching myself down to Parking and Transportation and trading my F Permit for a daily scratcher. More on these permits in a future post on the economics of commuting. But what it means I will be unable to drive more than once per week. No more safety net, and no more $90 per month.

I am getting rid of this expensive piece of plastic and committing myself to at least 64 miles per week of biking and carpool commuting.