Wow, I'm in the same position. I live 1:20 from ACY and have been driving since I started. I'm actually considering transferring to DTW and commuting from EWR (I'm 30 minutes to the employee lot). The trips in AC suuuuuuck (all east coast, rarely go west of the Mississippi, mostly lame Florida overnights, etc). I already have a commuter employee parking pass for EWR (it's $72/mo, in case you're wondering). In my time here I've done many out-of-base pickups, and I'll use EWR for commuting for training and for personal travel.

I've done most of my pickups from DTW. It's an easy commute from EWR, anywhere from 5 to 10 flights a day between UA and DL. Getting a seat is easy; only had to ride the jumpseat once. DTW has a lot of west coast flying (which I love) and a lot of commutable trips. Lots of west coast flights with late starts and redeyes to end (or arrive at DTW around midnight, where I just fall asleep in the crew room and catch the first flight back to EWR).

Also, my first opportunity to hold captain, which will likely be in a few months, will not be in ACY. It's very senior on the captain side. So I'm also deciding if I want to commute to reserve.

I have a very efficient car (40mpg highway) as well. It's 166 miles round trip. At current gas prices the amount I would save on gas is more than enough to cover the cost of EWR parking (and this is just gas savings. There's also mx costs, depreciation, etc). Also hotels around DTW, in my experience, are pretty cheap and plentiful. I've gotten the LaQuinta for like $65. As a lineholder, if you play your cards right, you might not need more than a couple rooms a month.