My school is really good about letting me go to technology conferences (as long as it doesn’t cost any money). Last week I went to the Nebraska Technology Coordinators Fall Meeting and yesterday I went to the Nebraska 1:1 meeting.
They were both in Kearney, which is about 120 miles away. Last week I went in a van full of other technology coordinator type people, but yesterday I was traveling alone, so I did a little experiment. On the way out to Kearney, I took the interstate and on the way back I took highway. Here’s the data:
| Start Time | End Time | Total Time | Distance | Avg. Speed | Gas | MPG | Total Cost | |
| Interstate | 7:05am | 8:45am | 1:40 | 120 miles | 72 mph | 3.86 gal. | 31 mpg | $13.86 |
| Highway | 3:15pm | 5:25pm | 2:10 | 113 miles | 52 mph | 2.55 gal. | 44 mpg | $9.15 |
If those speeds seem low to you, it’s because it takes me a while to get up to speed. On the Interstate I was cruising along at about 80 mph, but the trip out has about 10 miles where the speed limit is between 35 and 60 mph. On the Highway, I was traveling at 62 mph, but the trip back has about 5 small towns where the speed limit dips down to 35-45 mph. There was also a little construction on the way back and I was just waiting around for a few minutes. I turned the car off.
So? Is it worth taking 30 minutes longer to save $4.71? That’s $9.42 per hour or $18,840 per year (which qualifies for food stamps for a family of 2 –they don’t count cats).