Did some back of envelope math. The marginal cost of commuting up the #SFPeninsula to #SanFrancisco is cheaper with #Caltrain but only because parking is so expensive in SF. If parking were free (as it generally is in industrial parks), a car with decent MPG has about the same cost (and cheaper if you take an EV).
There's also the cost of the car, insurance, etc. But if you need a car for whatever reason, that's a sunk cost.
So for many Bay Area commuters, the decision to ride public transit boils down to whether you find traffic or having to match your plans to the train route/schedule more aggravating I suppose.
@mjambon Oh, I definitely get more done in the train. But I also lose more time walking to and from the stations, so it's a bit of a wash on that front.
@aftd maybe a better model is to consider if there's any period of time during the commute that feels completely wasted? For example, maybe sitting while doing nothing for 5 min is always a nice break, for 10 min it's nice because you can also catch up on the news, and for 20 min it's boring because it's too short to do anything meaningful, but maybe beyond 30 min you can get some work done.