Geography 340

Student Travel Cost Calculator

This calculator was designed to help students better estimate the cost of attending California State University, Northridge. On a campus like ours where many students commute in daily to take courses, and the cost of fuel has risen dramatically, so to has the cost of going to college.

Carpooling is a good means to avoid incurring a signficant fuel cost. Online courses may help as well, especially if you are a great distance and commuting time removes you from otherwise productive work, like a part-time or full-time job. This latter cost is your opportunity cost. It's always worth considering how much your time is worth, in addition to the costs associated with fueling your car.

In the future, we'll add a carbon footprint, so you can begin to estimate the external costs of commuting...you don't pay, but everyone else does.

Steps: If you don't alredy know how far you commute one way to campus, use the Google Map function embedded below to figure it out. Type in the address from which you commute and the map will calculate the distance you must drive, plus estimate the time it will take. Make a note of this information and place it in the appropriate response box below.