The "Switching Costs" to Transit

Taking the bus or train instead of the car to work is a lot more costly than the gas you might save. There's a psychological hump to get over and there are habits that have to change. That's not money from your wallet but it's still mentally expensive.

Marketplace Money has a report on the resistance to that kind of lifestyle change in the Denver area, where the mass transit system is set for big expansion. Getting people to the point of actually ditching their cars can be tough, so says a scholar of consumer decisions to Marketplace's Andrea Bernstein:

If I've always driven, I don't have to think about when to leave, I just leave. If I switch to mass transit, I have to actually figure out what the schedule is and that's a cost that's keeping people perhaps from changing.

Getting transit options to a competitive price point and time-savings advantage is tricky enough for planners, and it's trickier when it's so difficult to get people on board in the first place. That lifestyle change could save individual commuters and the communities at large from the big collateral costs and rush hour headaches of car-dependency.

With transit, the walk to the bus stop could be as uphill as the motivation to change a morning ritual. You have to coordinate with schedules and spouses. You have to plan ahead more, at least initially, and manage time differently. And you'll have different factors that affect you on your way -- and that's going to be irritating at first. It can be kind of like getting a consumer to try an unfamiliar brand, after years of name brand loyalty.

For some people, transit is like green eggs and ham, for many it's a mix of pros and cons, and for others it's still not a feasible option. But getting people who can take transit to blink at the status quo and seriously consider changing a routine for long-term benefits is the first mountain to move.