An early update on the TTC test, because the results are in!

Earlier this month, I mentioned that I bought something around $125 dollars of tokens in an attempt to gauge my actual usage and whether or not it's worth it for me to buy either a VIP or even a regular priced metropass, which goes for a little under $20 dollars more every single month, or if the expense is actually a luxury.

Well on Saturday March 28th, with at least two more round trips to contend with for the month and I've used two more tokens than the $125 worth of tokens I purchased.

Yowzah! That's a lot of bus rides!

Yes, that's right. Even while being mindful of the fact that my travel options are not unlimited for the month and therefore being reasonably more conservative than I'd otherwise be in a given month (translation: less lazy-ish) I'm on pace to have used more than $141 dollars, or a full priced metropass' cost, of travel on public transit this month.

And that even doesn't take into consideration that I can claim my metropass costs on my taxes, which gives me money back for having one once a year. I can't do that for money spent on tokens.

So, does this result with the tokens surprise me?

Actually it does.

While I'm cognizant of the fact that I often have six day work weeks (regular job plus freelance) plus other errands that adds to the daily back and forth of my life, in my head, I didn't expect to use 44 tokens in only 26 1/2 days. I had thought I would make it to the end of the month easily with those tokens and a few left over besides.

Well, clearly I guessed wrong. And not only did I guess wrong, I completely underestimated my need for transportation when it came from coming from home to work and then some. I'm well aware that I am very dependent on public transit to get myself places, and not just because I don't have a car. Frankly, many of the places I travel to in this city as a result of work or play is better accessed using public transit than having to find and pay for parking downtown.

So what does this mean for me going forward as a transit user?

It means that me owning a metropass is not only worth it, it can save me a buttload of money when it is a VIP pass. And that was the real lesson for me in the month of March.