San Francisco tops a new national ranking of how much money a household can save by giving up a car and riding transit instead.
The American Public Transportation Association's report, released Oct. 14, estimates a San Francisco household saves $1,536 a month, or $18,437 a year. That puts it just ahead of New York at $18,394 and Boston at $17,521. The national average is $14,130.
How APTA got the number
The report compares the cost of a monthly transit pass with the full cost of owning and running a car, based on AAA's Your Cost of Driving 2026 report and downtown parking data. It counts gas, insurance, maintenance, parking, financing, registration and depreciation. The estimate assumes a household drops a vehicle entirely and parks downtown for work.
APTA said most agencies haven't raised monthly fares since 2022. Meanwhile, the average new car price reached $50,089 in August 2026 according to Kelley Blue Book, and the national average gas price hit $4.61 a gallon in late September. The San Francisco Examiner reported that the city's savings figure is up 9.5% from last year's report.
Discounts that cut the cost further
The Examiner rounded up Bay Area fare programs. Muni is free for riders 18 and under, and for seniors and people with disabilities whose income is at or below 100% of area median income; others in those groups may get 50% off. The SFMTA is one of 27 Bay Area agencies in Clipper Start, which discounts fares for low-income adults ages 19 to 64.
BART raised its means-based discount from 20% to 50% in January 2024. Spokesperson Chris Filippi told the Examiner that Clipper Start now has more than 200,000 enrolled participants, up from about 50,000 monthly users at the end of 2023. SF Bay Ferry said it carried more than 308,000 riders in September, a record. Caltrain offers a $1 youth fare.