# Philly to washington



## yupin (May 27, 2009)

Hi

I am french and i an willing to live in Philly in a couple of months

But I will probably work in Washington.

is there any card, or membership that exist to people who are doing this trip everyday ?

Thanks for your help


----------



## BuzzKillington (May 27, 2009)

Thats kind of a long commute... you should get a job in Philly


----------



## Rafi (May 27, 2009)

yupin,

Commuting between Philadelphia and Washington, DC is done, but not by a lot of people. You can, however, purchase either a monthly ticket (allowing you to travel between those cities an unlimited number of times during the month) or a ten-trip ticket (allowing you to travel ten times between those two cities in a 6 week period). Neither option is cheap by US commuting standards, but it is cheaper than paying for individual tickets. You may also consider living in Wilmington, Delaware, which is about 30 mins south of Philadelphia. The commute would be shorter, the ticket would be cheaper, and you'd still be very close to Philadelphia. This is the same commute US Vice President Joe Biden used to make when he was in Congress.

For more information on multi-ride tickets, go to http://tickets.amtrak.com/itd/amtrak.

Rafi


----------



## wayman (May 27, 2009)

yupin said:


> I am french and i an willing to live in Philly in a couple of monthsBut I will probably work in Washington.
> 
> is there any card, or membership that exist to people who are doing this trip everyday ?


You don't want to do this. You really don't want to do this.

If you're working normal hours in Washington, every Monday to Friday will be like this:

4:30am: wake up

5am: catch a Philadelphia-area subway/trolley/bus/commuter-train to the Philadelphia Amtrak station

6am: take an Amtrak train to Washington

8am: arrive at the Washington Amtrak station, catch a METRO subway to wherever you're working

8:30-9am: arrive at work

...

5pm: leave work, at the earliest, catch a METRO subway to the Washington Amtrak station

5:30-6pm: take an Amtrak train to Philadelphia

8pm: arrive at the Philadelphia Amtrak station, catch a Philadelphia-area subway/trolley/bus/commuter-train home

8:30-9pm: arrive home

You have to wake up in seven-and-a-half hours to do this again tomorrow.

Note that I didn't include any time for breakfast or dinner. You'll have to fit those in somewhere. You won't really have any time to do anything in Washington or in Philadelphia, except work (Washington) and sleep (Philadelphia). Also, you're paying for public transit in both cities every day.

If you're going to be working five days a week in Washington, live there; visit Philadelphia on weekends. It'll be cheaper and you'll get to enjoy both cities and be a lot happier.


----------



## Green Maned Lion (May 27, 2009)

Yeah, I'd throw in my vote and call this a bad idea, too. If I were you, I'd live in the city you are going to work in.


----------



## Cho Cho Charlie (May 27, 2009)

yupin said:


> I am french and i an willing to live in Philly in a couple of monthsBut I will probably work in Washington.


As mentioned, the distance between Philly and Washington is rather large. Here in the USA, it would be very unusual for anyone to travel that distance on a daily basis, even using the high-speed Acela train.

If you must live in Philly and work in Washington, you might want to either "tele-commute" and only make the trip once a week, or stay overnight in Washington weekdays and only travel back to Philly on the weekends.


----------



## ALC Rail Writer (May 27, 2009)

On board with the bad idea.

What's so bad about DC?


----------



## cmthru (May 27, 2009)

wayman said:


> yupin said:
> 
> 
> > I am french and i an willing to live in Philly in a couple of monthsBut I will probably work in Washington.
> ...


When I worked in DC many years ago there was a guy in my office that actually did that everyday, but from Wilmington. When asked why he said it's cheaper to live in Wilmington. He always looked like he never slept.


----------



## wayman (May 27, 2009)

cmthru said:


> When I worked in DC many years ago there was a guy in my office that actually did that everyday, but from Wilmington. When asked why he said it's cheaper to live in Wilmington. He always looked like he never slept.


He's certainly right about the cost-of-living difference.

The WIL-WAS commute worked for Joe Biden in part because he could walk from WAS to his office and back, and in part because he didn't have to go to his office every day (the Senate only convenes about 150 days per year, and he doesn't have to be present every day it does). But for anyone actually working every day and not able to walk to the office from WAS, the commute is a lot worse


----------



## Ryan (May 27, 2009)

Hell, I can (and do) walk from WAS to my office every day, and I'm glad I live in Odenton and not out by Perryville! Philly to DC would be insane, in my book unless you've got a good reason.


----------



## Yupin (Jun 4, 2009)

Fact is my girlfriend study in NYC and my job is in Arlington... We are looking for something between to live together..

Thanks for all your answers


----------



## wayman (Jun 4, 2009)

Yupin said:


> Fact is my girlfriend study in NYC and my job is in Arlington... We are looking for something between to live together..
> Thanks for all your answers


Oof. Add another half hour to your commute each way (beyond the train time for Washington) if you're in Arlington--that's on the far side of Washington, so your options are either to stay on your Amtrak train until one stop beyond Washington--and only a few trains go beyond Washington, plus there's a 10-20 minute stop in Washington to change engines--or take the Red Line METRO several stops and then change to the Blue Line METRO and take it the rest of the way out to Arlington, quite possibly then changing to a bus if your work is not near a METRO subway stop.

Yes, Philadelphia is sort of a halfway point, but you and your girlfriend will both have long enough commutes that you'll never see each other during waking hours if you do this, probably not even for breakfast or dinner, and you'll both be so exhausted by your commutes that you won't enjoy your weekends that much either.

If you live in Arlington and she lives in NYC, you can hop on a train Friday afternoon and be in NYC by early Friday evening; and then hop on a train early Monday morning and be in Arlington in time for work. You'll still have three nights a week with her. And it's probably even easier for her, with a student schedule which is generally more flexible, to visit you in Washington for weekends or maybe even for a weeknight.

If your reasons for wanting to live together are partly based on cost, have a look at Craigslist under the sublet section. You might find far more affordable summer housing for each of you there than you have seen elsewhere. Lots of students go away for the summer, and now is the perfect time to look for that sort of thing. Craigslist New York sublets, Craigslist Washington DC sublets, Craigslist Northern Virginia sublets


----------



## Long Train Runnin' (Jun 4, 2009)

Yupin said:


> Fact is my girlfriend study in NYC and my job is in Arlington... We are looking for something between to live together..
> Thanks for all your answers


 ARLINGTON! Yikes thats like a 40 minute Metro ride after you get to WAS. You are right that Philly would be a middle ground of sorts but the daily commute from Philly would be expensive and you wouldn't be around much to see the person you live with.


----------



## Ryan (Jun 4, 2009)

wayman said:


> Yupin said:
> 
> 
> > Fact is my girlfriend study in NYC and my job is in Arlington... We are looking for something between to live together..
> ...


I usually don't post with just an "I agree", but Wayman said it all here. This is a much, much better solution.


----------



## Rafi (Jun 4, 2009)

Ouch. Commuting to Arlington from north of DC is a rough one.

I second Wayman's recommendation to make weekend visits. It's much more common for folks in similar situations for a very good reason: time and money!

That said, if you want to be really thorough about investigating the possibility of living together while working in DC and New York, consider the following:

Considering that your girlfriend will be a student in NY and consequently may have a more flexible schedule (and willingness to sit on a train longer):

Live in Baltimore's Mount Vernon district near the train station (easy, pleasant 5 min walk) or within walking distance of Aberdeen (between Baltimore and Wilmington). You could commute to DC on MARC (Maryland's commuter rail which runs on Amtrak's tracks between Perryville, Aberdeen, Baltimore, and Washington) and continue to Arlington on the Washington Metro. If you commute out of Aberdeen, you have the added luxury of boarding select Amtrak trains there with your MARC ticket, which are faster than the MARC trains. You would save a heck of a lot of money compared to commuting from Philadelphia and the time would be much shorter, especially the closer you get to Baltimore. MARC also honors what's called a Student Advantage card (www.studentadvantage.com). It costs about $20 a year and gives you a hefty 15% discount on all MARC tickets and 15% off of any one-way Amtrak ticket (excluding Monthly passes and 10-trip tickets and Acelas on weekdays).

On the flip side, your girlfriend could commute to New York from either Baltimore or Aberdeen. Her ticket would be more expensive than if you lived in Philly, but your combined tickets between the two of you would be cheaper since you'd be paying for a MARC monthly ticket instead of Amtrak.

Here's how the numbers break down:

Living in Philly:

You:

Monthly Amtrak ticket: $1134

Washington Metro Fees (assuming Rosslyn as a destination): approximately $74

Time: Approximately 3 hours

Your girlfriend:

Monthly Amtrak ticket (she could take commuter trains, but she would have to change trains in Trenton and it would take FOREVER): $1152

Time: Approximately 1 hour, 45 mins

Total cost: around $2360 per month

Or here's how things look if you live closer to Baltimore:

You:

Monthly MARC Student Advantage ticket cost: $212 (Aberdeen) or $148 (Baltimore)

Monthly Washington metro cost (approximate): $74

Time (very approximate, assuming Rosslyn as a destination in Arlington): Approximately 105 mins (Aberdeen) or 75 mins (Baltimore)

Your girlfriend:

Monthly Amtrak ticket cost: $1512 (from Aberdeen) or $1656 (Baltimore)

Time (approximate, assuming she's within walking distance of New York Penn Station): 2 hours, 30 mins (Aberdeen), 3 hours (Baltimore)

Total Cost: $1798 for Aberdeen or $1878 for Baltimore

So, you'd save yourself some commuting time by living closer to Baltimore (your girlfriend would have more) and somewhere around $480 to $562 per month. Also keep in mind that the apartment rental rates in Baltimore (and especially Aberdeen) tend to be cheaper than in cities like Philly.

Rafi


----------



## George Harris (Jun 4, 2009)

Time wise, Wilmington is nearer the half way point than Philadelphia.

Either way you a spending a lot of money and time just going back and forth. See if you can rent a room or something like that in Arlington itself and have the real apartment in the New York area, or do it the other way round, and she rents a room / shares an apartment with someone in NYC and goes south on the weekends. You will probably not be out much if any more money and it will be a lot less wearing on your bodies.

Remember, the Amtrak Northeast trains are not as fast as the TGV's and the distances are being quoted in miles instead of kilometers. Multiply all distances by 1.6 to get them into numbers you have a feel for. (225 miles DC to NYC = 362 km)


----------



## joiedevivre (Jun 19, 2009)

I was born and raised in DC and I'm going to college in Philadelphia, so I know the commute fairly well. While I agree that it would be unreasonable to travel such a long distance on a daily basis, I don't agree with the people who suggest living and commuting from the suburbs of the Washington Metropolitan Area.

Despite the bad economy, the housing market in DC hasn't be hurt much. The housing bubble remains inflated, so the cost of buying or renting a house, townhouse, or apartment unit in any condition is still ridiculously high. Two years ago, I met a cab driver who said he had just sold his house - originally valued at $80,000 - for $400,000. The price of real estate - like any commodity - is tied to supply and demand. With so much of the district devoted to museums, landmarks, universities, and government buildings, the housing supply is quite limited. DC has about 600,000 residents, but the number of people working in the district exceeds 1 million. That means there are more than 400,000 people commuting in and out of the district Monday through Friday. As a result, the Beltway is ALWAYS congested with rush hour traffic and the daily commute is EASILY 2+ hours. Suburban commuters' demand for DC real estate is extremely high and keeps housing prices elevated and rising.

If you can afford to live in DC, do so. The Metro is a convenient and cost-effective way to commute WITHIN the district. If you can't, take the advice of others and live in Willmington, Delaware. The commute on Amtrak from Willmington to DC is easy and MUCH more reasonable than the commute from Philadelphia. And as crazy as it sounds, the time it takes to go from Willmington to DC on Amtrak is less than the time it would take you to drive from a suburb in Maryland or Virginia.

Hope this helps.

Bonne Chance.


----------



## Bob Dylan (Jun 19, 2009)

Lots of good info here, I used to live in the DC area and rode the trains and metro almost daily!

Seems to me, based on my personal experience with a corridor romance(Sigh, those were the days :lol: )

that living in Virginia or Maryland, or even having a roomate in DC(yes the rents are almost NYC levels!),

and commuting on weekends to from NYP is the best solution!As a studentrt your amor would get cheap prices,

and the crowds arent bad on the weekend(mostly!! :lol: )Lots of info on the web about all these places,

I still think the above makes the most sense for fininacial and heart reasons!!!!!!


----------

