Metro asked you to tell us how you're using public transportation programs to beat the high prices at the pump. We asked to hear about the money you're saving and how you're doing it. Here are some great tips.

Public transportation helps me save just by being there, so I don't have to drive from Bonney Lake to Seattle five times a week.
– Patricia, Bonney Lake

I dump the pump most of the year by riding my bike to work and on all my non-work travel around town. On days that I can't ride my bike, I take the Metro bus to work and other destinations. This not only saves me money, but is great exercise and earth-friendly, too.
– Suzanne, Seattle

A year ago, my family moved from Renton to Algona. I had been using Metro from the South Renton Park-and-Ride, but moving to Algona added an additional 36 miles round-trip to my commute. I recently started using the Sounder Train to downtown Seattle, transferring via the Route 70 bus to the Eastlake district. I have now discovered the DART Route 917, and try to take that as much as possible back and forth from my home to the Auburn Station. Using the train and DART system not only relieved my driving stress, but I'm seeing the scenery from a whole different perspective. I think I would resent having to drive the 72 mile round-trip on a regular basis again.
– Brenda, Algona

The bicycle racks that are on Metro buses allow me quick, flexible, and easy access from Seattle across Lake Washington to my place of work in Kirkland. Metro helps bridge the gap between the choice of multiple bus connections or a long bike commute. The combination of my bicycle and Metro's bike racks make for minimal bus connections, a reasonably short bike ride, and eliminate the walk time. I save money on gas, get as much added exercise as I choose while keeping my commute time low.
– Bill, Seattle

By riding Community Transit every day back and forth to the University of Washington, I save about $10 a day with the gas my SUV takes – not to mention parking costs as well. Thanks UW Physicians for reimbursing me the money to cost to ride the bus every month!
– Paula, Lynnwood

I have been taking the bus to work since 1985. My husband and I share one car that is 24 years old and has approximately 190,000 miles on it.
– Marcia, Seattle

I’m a part-time student with a full-time job. But even with a limited class schedule at Bellevue Community College, I qualified for a discounted student bus pass that I use to go everywhere. It’s really been helpful with my job, since parking by my work in downtown Seattle costs a minimum of $15 a day.
– Brett, Issaquah

I love my FlexPass. Using it has become my main source of transportation while in Seattle.
– Rebecca, Maple Valley

Metro helped me by altering the schedule of the Route 915 to connect with the Sounder train. I can now ride in from Enumclaw to downtown Seattle in just one hour.
– Dorann, Enumclaw

Metro helps me save by providing my commute daily, Monday through Friday. I also can pick up some groceries or do some errands around my workplace and return home on bus. As for the car, I have a game called "five-mile rule." I drive my car five miles only per week. I combine errands Saturday. Thursday night I do all week's laundry at local laundromat. The five-mile rule has greatly saved me money. I also "spend my energy" at home cleaning and doing yard, gardening, pruning. If I need to go see my mother in Wenatchee, I use Greyhound or Trailways. I also enjoy walking for fun around neighborhood, to mall, or 7-11, and so on. I put library books and movies on hold at the central Seattle library so I can pick up or drop off during my bus commute.
– Linda, Seattle

I purchased a FlexPass from my employer and have used Metro for my commute for more than a year. I used my car so infrequently that I sold it! I've saved the money I spent on insurance, maintenance, and gas. I figure that my daily commute takes only a few minutes longer than driving and costs me less than 25 cents a day.
– Charla, Burien

I own a car, but I choose to commute via bus or bicycle every day to work. My commute is only six-seven miles, from South Park to downtown. Even with a limited number of buses running, there is still always a bus within a half-hour of whenever I'm ready to leave and they typically get me downtown in under a half-hour. If I included the $7 parking I'd have to pay daily to drive, $21 on game days, riding the bus is saving me over $200 dollars a month in gas and parking combined, not to forget how much less stressful it is to sit back on the bus and read a book instead of fighting traffic!
– David, Seattle

The cost of my commute to Seattle, plus parking if I drove alone, would be over $425 per month. However, because my employer provides me with an annual PugetPass, the cost of my commute to the transit center, where there is no charge for parking, is just over $25 per month. That's a savings over $400 per month.
– Janice, Federal Way

I save with a yearly Metro FlexPass through my employer. I bike (or bus) five miles to an express bus location in the University District and then take a Sound Transit bus into Kirkland, where I disembark a block from my office. I carry a laptop and work on the bus for the 20 minutes outbound and inbound.
– Steven, Seattle

I ride a bicycle to the Lakewood Park-and-Ride (about 3-1/2 miles). I ride Sound Transit Express to Seattle (Route 591). I don't know in bucks how much I save, but I do know that public transportation is the only way to go. I use a quarter tank of gas or less per week in my car.
– Philip, Lakewood

My car died in September. I have been on the bus ever since, and plan to go car-free for two years as an experiment, and a pledge to the environment. No car means no gas, no insurance bill, no repairs, no maintenance, and best of all, no parking tickets. It limits trips that entail spending money, like shopping, going to restaurants in distant neighborhoods, impulsive behavior. Now we have to carry what we purchase, so we are more mindful about what we buy.
- Heather, Seattle