If you had asked me how much it cost to drive a round-trip from Charlottetown, PEI to Halifax, Nova Scotia, I would have guessed about $80. Google Maps estimates the drive is about 3hr 30m.
If I thought about it a bit more, I probably could have come up with a more accurate estimate. A recent short road trip on this route gave me the exact numbers, and I thought I’d share.
This table shows the basic costs of driving from Charlottetown to Halifax (and back) on January 27, 2020 in Canadian dollars, including tax. The car was a Mazda CX-3 with all-wheel drive rented from Budget.
| Gas | $61.26 |
| Confederation Bridge toll | $48.50 |
| Tolls: Cobequid Pass highway (2 × $4) + Halifax bridges (2 ×$1) | $10.00 |
| Junior mints (optional) | $2.86 |
| TOTAL | $122.62 |
I didn’t include the cost of the car rental from Budget (two days for $109.26) or the taxi ride to the car-rental lot ($17). Though I suppose it’s technically possible to make the trip without Junior Mints, they are very refreshing.
By comparison, a Maritime Bus trip takes about 5 hours, costs $58.25, has a significantly lower carbon footprint, and, because there’s wifi on the bus, leaves you free to earn money while you travel.
Three departures daily: 8:15 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
A good comparison. In this case, there were two of us travelling. While this would double the bus fare costs, it’s still competitive with the drive (in addition to the carbon footprint benefits).