I live on the Maryland side of D.C. and use the Metro Bus, Montgomery County's Ride On bus system, and the Metro rail when adverse weather prohibits a bike ride. I think $4.55 is the highest combination I pay for a one way trip to downtown D.C. where I work. On the low end it's about $3.85 per trip. A trip take about an hour and ten minutes to an hour and twenty minutes depending on whether it's a weekday or a weekend and if I connect to a bus or a train. Bicycling the route takes forty-five minutes, a disappointing forty-three if I push it. Public transportation in D.C. sometimes catches a bad rap, and not entirely without reason, but I think it is a great system. It certainly is easier to be car free when it is accessible. Today for example they were predicting three inches of rain and had issued flood warnings. Although it hasn't turned out that bad, it still would have been a very soggy commute.