Your Life Without a Car

[Randerolf]

A question has been nagging me for a while: How does one live without a car?

In my childhood, a red, 1982 Ford Escort hatchback leaked, broke down, and was moldy, but it was how my family got everywhere up until the mid-1990's. Today, I take a Beijing bus (.06 US) or walk (free). Including a cab ride from the airport, I've been in a car four times since my arrival from the US a couple months ago.

Rewind Several Months Ago – Motorville, USA
Before my newly purchased bike was stolen, I tried to solve this question. In a fit of frustration with petrodollars going to terrorists and having not been asked to sacrifice anything while at war, I decided to reduce my car usage. That delicious, red Honda Fit hasn't done anything to piss me off, but it was time to try a new way of living and head in the right direction.

My hometown had been going in the direction of more highways and cars since the 1950's with it's white flight and sprawl. The city even merged with the county to become one big mega-ville.

In the window of a few weeks until my bike was stolen, I biked as much as I could. Since I had moved to an older neighborhood that was one of the most walkable areas of town, a 2 mile ride to work was doable. On days when I would drive, I would put a freshly starched and pressed shirt in my locker at work, so I could ride there in a T-shirt on those hot, summer days and still be presentable. The grocery store and any type of food for cooking was out of riding distance, but a game of basketball, dining at a nearby restaurant, or sightseeing along the beautiful Saint Johns river were more pleasant than ever. Even so, I never learned how to buy food without a car.

Add One More Car-less Commuter to the Millions
Today, I am learning –little by little – how to live without an automobile. I have a hunch that one should buy a few groceries everyday, rather than fill up the jalopy with supplies for the week. Take a big cloth bag to the store, so you can carry more. Plan ahead since you have to descend six flights of stairs and walk several blocks to the store. Upon asking how a friend's membership at Sam's Club, famous for its bathtubs of hot sauce and barrels of pickles, worked without a car, she told me that she would buy those huge items and simply call a taxi.

Some of these sound silly, but to someone like myself who has only lived in a car-only culture, it comes as a completely new way of living. Have you given up or limited your automobile usage? What changed and what stayed the same? What effect did it have on your relationships and your daily life? Have you, like many of my peers, only started driving recently? What's your story? How does one live without a car?

Want more? Christ, you're insatiable -- here's a story of a guy living without his car for a few weeks.   click to show 

The Bicycle Diaries
Is it possible to live in America without a car? Uh, sort of.
By Bill GiffordPosted Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2005, at 5:24 PM ET

"I know," said the cashier. Then, rolling her eyes and nodding meaningfully in my direction, she added, "and some people are riding their bikes."

"Mmmm," said her customer, gathering up her kitty litter and heading for her minivan, studiously avoiding even a glance in my direction, which was difficult because I was holding the door open for her.

After two weeks of riding my bicycle everywhere, I'd gotten used to people treating me as if I were somehow not right in the head. Store clerks ignored me, old men gave me the hard stare, soccer moms avoided eye contact. After all, almost nobody in America rides a bike if they can afford a car.

But after Katrina jacked gas prices toward $4 a gallon, my Volvo station wagon was starting to seem a lot less affordable. It wasn't just the $50 fill-ups, either, but the $400-plus repair bill that resulted from the Volvo's annual state inspection, on top of a $200 insurance payment, and the costly new drive shaft that she still needs, the insatiable beast. In mid-October, under the influence of warm fall weather and a recent visit to Amsterdam, I decided to opt out of humanity's little deal with the Devil, known as the automobile.

Long story short: At least I tried.

It seemed easy enough. I'm what the newspapers call an "avid" cyclist—rhymes with "rabid." I own four bikes, which I rarely use for actual transportation. Like most of the 90 million Americans who swung a leg over a bicycle last year, including our president, I rode for fitness and recreation only.

Then, last month, I went to Amsterdam for a friend's birthday party. I was amazed: Everyone rode bikes, everywhere. I saw 80-year-olds pedaling along beside young mothers with two and even three small children perched on various parts of their bikes, and dads trundling off to work in business suits and nice Italian shoes. The Dutch, I later learned, conduct 30 percent of all their trips—to work, for errands, socially—by bike. In America, that figure is less than 1 percent. We drive 84 percent of the time, even though most of our trips are less than 2 miles long. More than three-quarters of us commute alone by car, compared with just half a million (way less than 1 percent) who do so by bike, according to the 2000 Census. As a "committed" cyclist—another loaded adjective—I'd always tut-tutted these kinds of statistics.

In late October, I took a vow of automotive abstinence. I'd go everywhere by bike: daily errands, social events, even the "office" (a Wi-Fi cafe where I often work—4 miles away, over a decent-sized hill). I don't commute to an actual job, but I would go somewhere every day, rain or shine. I allowed a few exceptions, like emergency vet visits and picking up friends from the train station. Otherwise, I'd be helping to cut down on greenhouse-gas pollution and traffic congestion, while keeping myself in shape. I was well ahead of the curve: According to one survey, gas would have to hit $5 per gallon before a majority of Americans would consider walking or riding bikes as alternative transportation.

I'm not like most Americans: I have no kids to chauffeur to soccer practice, no elderly parents to care for, and I commute in slippers. I would still need to eat, however, and I would continue to go to restaurants and movies and parties and shopping. Although I live in a semirural area, suburbia is closing in on all sides, with more housing developments every year. As in much of suburbia, there are almost no services within easy walking distance: It's 2 miles to the convenience store where I buy the New York Times, 6 miles to the grocery and pet stores, 4 miles to my favorite bar. The former country roads around here are becoming busier all the time. Luckily, a defunct local railway line had recently been converted to a 17-mile recreation trail that passes fairly close to the stores I most often visit, as well as a couple of pretty good bars and restaurants. I'd be riding a lot of miles, but as it turned out, the mileage wouldn't be the problem.

That first Sunday, I hopped on a bike to go get the paper, just a couple miles down the rail-trail. I wore jeans, mistake No. 1: By the time I reached the Sunoco, I was profoundly chafed, and worse, my Banana Republic jeans now sported a black, greasy streak at about midcalf, from rubbing against the chain. It was chilly, and I was a tad hung over from a party the night before. By the time I got home, I had a raging tension headache, thanks to my hunched-over riding position.

Three Advils later, I looked at my bike with fresh eyes. It had a skinny little seat that all but required me to wear padded cycling pants when I rode. The handlebars were set forward and low, so a stretchy top was also a must—with a long tail, to avoid showing the cyclist's equivalent of plumber's crack. And it had special "clipless" pedals, which required me to wear special stiff-soled shoes with metal cleats on the bottom. Great for riding, not so much for walking. My beloved mountain bike had always seemed so comfortable on the local dirt trails. But like most bikes sold in the United States, it was an exercise machine, and not intended to be used for transportation. (There are some bikes that work well for city/transport use, including the functional Breezer, the retro-stylin' Electra line of cruisers, and the supremely elegant Bianchi Milano, which is what I'd ride if I actually lived in Milano.)

Years ago, when I commuted by bike to an office job at a magazine, I had established a little routine. It was 6 miles each way, and I made sure to ride at a slow pace so I wouldn't get too sweaty. Arriving at work before most of my colleagues, I'd shut my office door and read e-mails while I cooled down. Then I'd swab myself with Old Spice Red Zone and change into work clothes, trading my cycling shoes for the old Kenneth Coles I kept under my desk. By the time everyone else arrived, clutching their Dunkin' Donuts coffee, I was fully dressed, awake, and presentable. Then one morning, while I was locking my bike to a parking meter, I happened to see the publisher, a pudgy-fingered little man who liked French cuffs and hated bike messengers, which is exactly what I resembled at that moment. My career at that magazine ended shortly thereafter.

I've got a whole dresser full of cycling clothes. And they work well, for their intended purpose, which is exercising. I actually thought they looked sort of cool, as long as you didn't venture into the neon-yellow end of the color spectrum (or worse, purple). But as my first week carless progressed I realized that bike clothes only look good when you're actually riding a bike. The moment you stop, get off, and walk around among normally-dressed people—say, when you drop by the local Kmart and stroll about, in skintight Spandex, holding a toilet plunger—bike clothes don't seem quite so cool.

As I approached the Kmart cash registers in this early visit, metal cleats clicking on the linoleum tile, the cashier girls stopped comparing their incarcerated boyfriends and stared. Then they looked away. One studied her nails, while the other concentrated on scanning the plunger and counting change. This, I'd come to recognize, was The Silence, the awkward, get-this-over-with tension that often accompanied transactions where one party is clad head-to-toe in stretch synthetics that might not smell so great. I paid, grabbed the plunger, and click-clacked out the automatic sliding doors, to everyone's relief. And as I pedaled away, I realized that bike clothes aren't merely ugly, to normal people: They're transgressive.

So I did an extreme biker makeover: I bought baggy shorts to wear over my padded cycling clothes, to spare the sensibilities of store clerks and my fellow customers. I wore neutral-toned jerseys but kept the bright-gold nylon jacket, because it made me more visible and thus safer. I ditched the fancy pedals for regular, flat pedals, so I could ride in normal shoes. And I attached a rack to one of my racing bikes, an act of utter bike-geek sacrilege. It didn't matter: Sooner or later, I'd need to go get dog food.

Still, by the end of that first shakedown week, I was growing to enjoy my bike-bound, self-propelled life. I'd made an executive decision to ride slowly, because it wasn't fun to get all Lance Armstrong-sweaty and then stand in line at Foodland, sweating all over the broccoli. By necessity, I chose less-traveled roads, which led me to some interesting local discoveries, like a natural-foods market run by the Amish that stocked wild salmon and bison steaks. I got exactly one flat tire, on a 12-mile trek to have my DVD player repaired. Luckily I carried a spare tube—essential for any ride, as is a helmet—and was back on my way in less time than it would have taken to get my Volvo filled up and washed.

Since I couldn't carry more than about two or three bags worth of groceries, I needed to go shopping more often, but as long as the weather held, I didn't mind. In fact, I looked forward to longer trips, like a 10-mile jaunt to a local college library. The fresh air and exercise kept me alert during the afternoons, and after humping an Oven Stuffer Roaster up a 2-mile grade, there was certainly no need to go to the gym. At night, after a beer or two at the bar, I was probably safer riding on the wide, empty rail-trail than driving on the dark, narrow rural roads—and there were certainly no cherry-picking local cops lurking on the bike path.

Best of all, the bike turned out to be the hottest dating vehicle I've ever owned. One Sunday, my girlfriend and I rode to a nearby tavern for burgers and beers. We sat outside, enjoying one of the last of the warm fall afternoons and then wobbled back up the hill to our town. We got home feeling slightly sweaty, a bit tipsy, and full of adrenaline. (She opted out of the grocery-shopping trips, however, and refused to bike home from the Amtrak station at 10 p.m. on Friday nights.)

Slowly but surely, I started running low on dog food. And the thing about dog food is that the more you buy, the cheaper it is: A 5-pound bag of my pups' preferred brand goes for $12, while the 15-pounder costs $25. Plus, the 5-pounder would only last two or three days at the most, which is how I ended up in the pet store, lashing an alarmingly heavy sack of "Cowboy Cookout"-flavored kibble to my bike rack.

Once the load was secured, I set out, navigating the rather tricky strip-mall exit onto a busy state road. It soon became clear, as I pedaled along the gravel-strewn shoulder, that I had failed to anticipate the sketchy handling characteristics of a 19-pound bike laded with 15 pounds of dog food in a 25-mile-an-hour crosswind. One especially nasty gust pushed my top-heavy steed into the busy traffic lane; as I swerved back to the shoulder, the Cowboy Cookout decided to continue in a straight line, and the rear wheel skidded around, nearly tossing me into the guardrail.

That night, I went to watch Monday Night Football in the next town over. It was a beautiful, moonlit night, unseasonably warm (the wind had died down), and bright enough that I didn't even need my headlamp. As I sped home through the woods, I soon forgot about the Eagles' catastrophic loss. I crawled contentedly into bed … and awoke with a full-blown head cold. It was my third minicold since I'd started this experiment, probably thanks to all the sweating and chilling I'd put myself through.

At any rate, I wanted only one thing: soup. And I had no soup. It was 40 degrees and pouring down rain. Without a second thought, I hopped into the car and raced down to Foodland, where I stocked up on Campbell's Select Savory Chicken and Long-Grain Rice, and other necessities (like ice cream) that I'd been doing without. On the way home, I passed the Sunoco station. $2.49 a gallon for premium, I decided, was a terrific bargain.
Two weeks. One bike. No car. - By Bill Gifford - Slate Magazine

[Moyaboy]

I happen to be in total agreement with you on this subject.

My SO and I are looking to move primarily to cities with good mass transportation.

The less the use of a car and payment the better.

[Halx]

I live in NYC and I do not own a car. Yes, it takes longer to cover distance, but it is far cheaper and much more "cultural" than where I come from - LA.

[Merlocke]

that's what segways are for .

Segway
That and the winglet
Toyota Announces Segway Killer: The Winglet Personal Transporter | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

[SabrinaFair]

I'm still not ready to go completely car-less (my parents live an hour away, with no mass transit in between....I like to drive to school if I have to go at night, as there are a lot of robberies on campus) but I'm trying to reduce my dependence on my car as much as possible. It's getting along in years, and I want to make it last as long as possible, not to mention environmental concerns. I started taking the bus to work out of financial concerns--it's expensive to park downtown. The amount of gas is negligible, as I live within a couple of miles of the city's center, but the daily parking rates are insane for such a small city. As a student at my university, I'm able to take the bus for free. The bus picks me up right in front of my house and drops me off a couple of blocks away--why the hell wouldn't I?

Now if I can only make myself walk more...I live very close to some great restaurants/shops, I should definitely make more of an effort to take shank's pony rather than hop in my car....I walk some, but not nearly as much as I should, given the proximity of most of the places I frequent to my home-sweet-home.

[Esoteric]

Couldn't do it. I wouldn't be able to see my son otherwise.

[skizziks]

I lived in a small enough town where the farthest point from one end to another was about 7 miles, EASY on a bicycle. I knew people who would drive less than ONE mile to work. i hated those people. i had a car, i used it for trips the the grocery store if i was going to buy lots of stuff, but i didnt drive it every day, and i would use my backpack and bicycle for small amounts of groceries. i loved it. i didnt have to buy gas all the time, so i had extra cash. i got my excercise. i saw more of the town, people knew me and would wave and smile. a car is so impersonal, but on a bicycle, after a month, you really start to see things and meet people you would have missed while driving a car. I currently live in antigua, guatemala, and i dont have a car or a bicycle. i walk everywhere. i end up walking about 3 - 5 miles a day when its all totalled up. when i go shopping, i carry it, so i dont shop for a lot at a time. again, i see people, i see things, i am "in it" and "part of it."

Living without a car is quite do-able, and there are lots of sites that can tell you how to bike commute to work, what you need, tips, etc.

[Fotzlid]

It would be impossible for me to go without a car. I live way out in the suburbs where there is no public transportation. The nearest supermarket is about 5 miles away, work is about 20 miles away and the nearest mall is at least 15 miles away.
The roads around here are not bicycle friendly either.

[Randerolf]

Originally Posted by skizziks

i saw more of the town, people knew me and would wave and smile. a car is so impersonal, but on a bicycle, after a month, you really start to see things and meet people you would have missed while driving a car. I currently live in antigua, guatemala, and i dont have a car or a bicycle. ... i am "in it" and "part of it."

Your post is fascinating; can you tell me more? What was the last interesting story made possible by using el modo de andar?

[snowy]

My SO and I each have our own car, but his never gets used, and we're selling it. He bikes everywhere he needs to go, and I drive us places when two of us need to get somewhere out of bicycle range. My bike is currently in need of repairs, and so I haven't been riding it much lately, not to mention it's the worst season to ride a bike around my college town, as the streets are full of leaf debris. Up until the weather turned, I was riding my bicycle, walking, and riding the bus more than driving my car. I expect that will be the case again once they clean up the bike lanes and I get my bike repaired.

Quite frankly, we've saved a lot of money in gas and insurance by going down to one car and only driving when it's impossible to bicycle/walk/take the bus there. Our town is fairly compact, and there are not many places that are out of reach by bicycle/bus/foot. Even downtown, from our house, is only a half an hour walk away, a 10-minute bicycle ride, or a 5-minute bus ride. The bus stop is right in front of our house. There is a grocery store 2 blocks to the north of us that is easily reachable on foot. Another grocery store--this one a "one-stop shopping" sort of place--is half a mile away on foot, about a 10-minute walk. The coffee shop is a 10-minute walk away, and my bank is right around the corner from the coffee shop. The university campus (an important location, as it's where my SO spends most of his time) is only 10 minutes away on foot, 3 minutes away by bicycle, and about the same by bus--the bus that stops in front of our house goes by campus on its way to downtown. Going the other way, the bus goes by several grocery stores before finally arriving at the hospital and coming back towards our house, headed for campus. So most important locations in my town are easily reachable. It's one of the things I love about where I live.

[genuinegirly]

The joys of living in a college town: you and your man have it made, Snowy.

Cycling to the grocery store is a cathartic experience. It works out well when you only have yourself and one other to feed. You'd be shocked if you observed how many fresh vegetables one can cram into a hiking backpack. Reserve a pouch for frozen goods, place the dairy products just beside it... I don't imagine it would work for a family larger than 3.

[LoganSnake]

Biking to a grocery store? Work? School? No thanks. I'd rather drive in comfort of AC/heater. Before we owned a car, my dad went shopping with a cart on 2 wheels something like 5 miles each way. I'm too lazy to do that and I hate buses. Not just buses, but public transit in general. Parking downtown Chicago is either:

a) ridiculously expensive
b) impossible to find
c) all of the above

Now we own 4 cars. One for every member of the family. They are all used every day.

[kurty[B]]

Used these for travelling across state/country on my bike. Now, they are utilized as glorified grocery bags until I am able to do another long distance bike trip. I throw one or two on my bike, ride to the grocery store, buy what I need and load them up and ride home. I was fortunate before to live in a town with a free bus system. What striked me as odd were even with an annual free bus people who lived only a mile away would still drive to work. Even in sub-zero temperatures it took longer to warm up your car than it would to take the bus to work?

My car is going to stay in Colorado for visiting my son. I don't know where I will work in my new town yet, but I will have my motorcycle, bicycle and already know the bus routes. I'm hoping riding the motorcycle is a rare occasion, but we will see.

[ngdawg]

I can't get to work any other way than to drive.
Public transportation sucks around here and it's too far to bike if I wanted to (which I don't). Pluse, bikes get stolen with regularity here-we've had two stolen from behind our fenced in house!

[snowy]

Originally Posted by genuinegirly

The joys of living in a college town: you and your man have it made, Snowy.

Cycling to the grocery store is a cathartic experience. It works out well when you only have yourself and one other to feed. You'd be shocked if you observed how many fresh vegetables one can cram into a hiking backpack. Reserve a pouch for frozen goods, place the dairy products just beside it... I don't imagine it would work for a family larger than 3.

Yes, yes we do. Our town is a great place to live.

When we go grocery shopping on our bicycles, we each wear our backpacks and I have a detachable basket for the front of my bicycle, which is really nice for going to the farmer's market. We also both have racks on the back of our bicycles that can have larger parcels strapped to them if need be. Generally, though, we don't do our big shopping trip without our car, but that only happens once a month, and we also take back all of our cans and bottles at the same time.

Where I live, it's actually faster in some instances to ride a bicycle than drive a car. For instance, it takes longer to drive and find a place to park at the grocery store that's 10 minutes away than it does to bike over there and lock up at the bike rack; part of that is because the grocery store is on a very congested, busy street that's hard to turn on to from a side street, but if you're on a bicycle, it's easy to hop off and walk across the crosswalk. Traffic will stop for a pedestrian, but it won't stop to let another car turn on to the road. Downtown is also better by bike or bus; parking down there on Saturday mornings (when the farmer's market is) is a complete pain.

I just can't fathom why people would want to spend so much $$$ on gas to drive their car. Don't get me wrong; I enjoy driving. But I would prefer to save my gas for worthy trips over just running errands around town that can be accomplished in other ways. Driving around my town can be a nightmare--the streets in some neighborhoods are narrow and hard to navigate in a car, plus the constant stop-go-stop-go in our compact city burns more gas. I'm also always afraid I'm going to hit a bicyclist or a pedestrian when I'm out driving. I'd rather save that gas for a trip to the beach or the mountains.

Plus, you can't beat the feeling of superiority that getting somewhere under your own power gives you!

[LoganSnake]

Speed and convenience. That's really all the motivation I need to drive my car.

[percy]

I'll never give up my car or motorcycle. I just don't have the time or the will to restructure my life to get around by using public transportation, bicycling or walking.

I used to take the bus to work. I drive now. With parking and gas, it costs the same as a bus. It also allows me to leave for work and hour later and get home an hour sooner.

Some people I work with are ardent green supporters and gave me grief when I started to drive. They went on about saving the planet and what not. I told them the planet will be around a heck of a long time after human civilization, so instead of saving the planet, they should look into saving themselves.

They don't talk to me anymore.

So yeah, I'll drive a car until I can't do it anymore. And love it.

[skizziks]

Originally Posted by Randerolf

Your post is fascinating; can you tell me more? What was the last interesting story made possible by using el modo de andar?

other than the occasional smile from a pretty girl, i find little stores and out of the way places, and later, when i need something, or someone asks me where they can get something, i can tell them and they wonder how i knew of this little hole in the wall. walking home one night i went through the park and saw a mariachi band playing to no one, the bums in the park were enjoying it. a warm night, mariachi music for no reason, it was surreal and cool. i dont really have any cool interesting stories right now, other than the kid walking around peeing all over and laughing about it. i assume i will eventually be mugged walking home alone at night, then i will have a cool story.
-----Added 30/11/2008 at 05 : 19 : 54-----

Originally Posted by LoganSnake

Biking to a grocery store? Work? School? No thanks. I'd rather drive in comfort of AC/heater. Before we owned a car, my dad went shopping with a cart on 2 wheels something like 5 miles each way. I'm too lazy to do that and I hate buses. Not just buses, but public transit in general. Parking downtown Chicago is either:

a) ridiculously expensive
b) impossible to find
c) all of the above

Now we own 4 cars. One for every member of the family. They are all used every day.

you are joking, right? i mean, you talk about parking being impossible and expensive, which is a great reason right there not to drive, and 5 miles on a bicycle is not far.

[BadNick]

My mom & dad emigrated to the U.S. from Europe in the early 1950's along with my brother and I who were like 4 & 2 years old; a year later my sister was born. They lived in Philadelphia since then, always worked, shopped, lived, raised kids, and they've never owned a car to this day.

I got one when I was 22yo, always had one since then, and wouldn't be without one. While I don't need it to get around my own neighborhood, I feel like I need the instant mobility.

[spindles]

You can make decisions that mean the car can be used less. When my wife and I were looking at houses to buy, I was insistent that we buy something close to the train line, which we have done. It is about 3 minutes from our front door to the train station. This comes in very handy. The local supermarket is less than a kilometre away and I have often gone shopping on foot, with a backpack (and until recently with one of the boys in the macpac possum ). This is a really good way to do it - the kid gets a good view of things and the pack still has a pretty large carrying capacity...

It does make you buy less and go more often, but when the shop is that close, why not?

Also, when my colleagues and I were choosing an office, we picked a spot that 2 (of the three of us) can get to easily via the train, so on the few days I go the office, it is a direct train trip there.

Yes, we have a car, but it is mostly only used when we are carrying lots of stuff or going distances we can't easily do any other way.

[LoganSnake]

Originally Posted by skizziks

you are joking, right? i mean, you talk about parking being impossible and expensive, which is a great reason right there not to drive, and 5 miles on a bicycle is not far.

Not at all. You misunderstood me. I don't drive when I go downtown, but I live in the suburbs. All the "cool" places are reachable by public transportation, but the car is more convenient. What is your motivation for not using the car? Money? Environment? I can afford it and, well, the environment will outlast me.

[Ayashe]

I have gone several months without a car, biking to and from work. I have done the shopping thing with a backpack, though I have found it easier to walk. The truth is that in the winter it is impossible to bike to and from work, even if there were no snow it is too dark. It is far too busy where I work and people are far too careless for me to feel safe on a bicycle. Not to mention that bikers face a risk going out at night alone, several women have been knocked off their bikes with bats and raped. Sorry but my safety comes first. I have already been hit by a car once and am not willing to risk biking in the dark if it can be avoided.

[Charlatan]

I haven't owned a car since I moved here nearly 2.5 years ago. The public transit is fantastic and cheap. If I need to get somewhere in a hurry I can always use a taxi (which are reasonably prices and plentiful).

In Toronto we owned a car but only because my wife worked north of the city. Without that part of our life, we could have easily got by using public transit.

[Ayashe]

Public transit could definitely improve where I live. I would have to bike or walk so far to get to the bus stop that it truly isn't worth it.

[ASU2003]

In the late spring, summer and early fall, I could ride the bike everywhere I need to go around my town. However, to go to my parents 300 miles away, to go across town on the rare occassion I need to, or to go boating at the lake, there isn't a better option than my own car. There is also the issue of riding in the rain and dark which I don't enjoy anymore. In Phoenix I could do it year-round, but now it's not worth it.

[Vigilante]

I live in Texas. Some commuters drive farther than the entire width of some northern states. Only way around is by car, really.

Even if public transport was available, I'd need a car. Can't carry a 2 1/2 foot redfish or a dozen sunfish and bass, plus the tackle box and poles you caught them with on a bike very easily. Buses don't typically go to quiet fishing holes anyways.

Actually scratch a the car. Where I go I need a truck. I have one now, I'll stick with that.

I haven't lived without motorized transportation since early high school.

[Baraka_Guru]

I'm still working on my driver's license.

[skizziks]

Originally Posted by LoganSnake

Not at all. You misunderstood me. I don't drive when I go downtown, but I live in the suburbs. All the "cool" places are reachable by public transportation, but the car is more convenient. What is your motivation for not using the car? Money? Environment? I can afford it and, well, the environment will outlast me.

While i can afford it as well, my motivations are money, environment, excercise, not being lazy, and rebelling against the mindless action and belief that we NEED a car. we are told from when we are young we NEED a car, we NEED to buy the car, the gas, the insurance, all of it. We dont in many circumstances. I understand people who live on farms, rural areas, etc. I want the fire department to have big gas guzzling trucks that get to the fire quickly, i want ambulances, not paramedics on bicycles. cars are usefull and are needed, but the average person depends on their car way too much, and for me, not driving my car is liberating. i do not feel controlled, my life dictated by society.

[nomcat]

Hurray for living in a UK city! Everything I need is within walking/cycling distance, and when I want to go further the trains are pretty good. I love not having a car... 1 less bill to pay and 1 less thing to worry about.

[telekinetic]

Originally Posted by nomcat

Hurray for living in a UK city! Everything I need is within walking/cycling distance, and when I want to go further the trains are pretty good. I love not having a car... 1 less bill to pay and 1 less thing to worry about.

More like 3 less bills to pay...4 if you put 'repair shop' and 'gas' in separate categories.

My wife and I have two cars. I work 45 miles from home, our immediate families are 12 and 20 miles away, and we have relatives that we visit frequently in our two adjacent states (and I'm talking about big manly southwest 6-to-8-hour drive states, not those sissy little "oops I missed my exit now I'm in Vermont" states back east).

I think we will always need 2 cars. We drove one car for a long time while we both worked at the same company, but that was a special circumstance, not a general rule.

[LoganSnake]

Originally Posted by skizziks

While i can afford it as well, my motivations are money, environment, excercise, not being lazy, and rebelling against the mindless action and belief that we NEED a car. we are told from when we are young we NEED a car, we NEED to buy the car, the gas, the insurance, all of it. We dont in many circumstances. I understand people who live on farms, rural areas, etc. I want the fire department to have big gas guzzling trucks that get to the fire quickly, i want ambulances, not paramedics on bicycles. cars are usefull and are needed, but the average person depends on their car way too much, and for me, not driving my car is liberating. i do not feel controlled, my life dictated by society.

I find this notion of people being scared of being controlled by society quite...humorous. You don't NEED anything besides food, water and shelter. Everything else, including your bike is an extra to make your life easier. Car is another such extra, only it comes with an air conditioner.

Yes, the stores around us are within public transportation reach and moderate walking distance. The mall is 15 minutes away walking. Grocery store is 10 minutes away. Various eateries are scattered around the mall and are easily reachable by bus. However, why would I waste 5-10 minutes waiting for the bus, 20 minute ride, then walk to my destination when I can hop into my car and get there in a fraction of that time?

My work is 11 miles away and is reachable by bus. However, total commute time by bus comes out to about an hour each way compared to 20-25 minutes by car. That's 40 minutes more sleep/time for bathroom/whatever.

When we moved here, we needed a car. No question about it. Yes, we could manage without it, but that would also carry with it a lot of inconvenience and wasted time. I need to know that I can be someplace when I want to go, not when the bus/train decides to get there.

[World's King]

I survive just fine without a car.


I ride my bicycle, scooter, walk, or take a cab. There is no need to own a car if you live in the city like I do.



Although it wasn't my choice. I lost my license after my second DUI. I'm actually okay with it.

[stonefaceddog]

I do a lot of driving due to my job and I live far away (200 miles)from the rest of the family so I have to drive to see them. I am able to walk to the store/bars/restaraunts from my house. I try and do this as much as possible. But I doubt I could ever just give up my car. I like driving far too much-as long as its not in the city.

[new man]

Just came back from an 1800 mile roundtrip drive to my sister's for thanksgiving. My wife's work is 23 miles away, and there is no reasonable public transportation. Her nurse shifts are already 12 1/2 hrs, so tacking on an hour plus each way for public transportation would not work. I visit two to three schools a day plus a few evening appts a week with clients so I need mobility. Also, through no control of my own, my office was moved 50 miles a way, but I only go in every week or two. I will not ride my bike at night, putting my life in the hands of others. I cannot arrive to appts sweaty and expect to cover 50 to 100 miles a day. Good thing my dually gets 9 mpg (kidding! I drive an Integra tht averages 32 mpg.)
BTW, Here is the weather report for tomorrow:
Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 65. Windy, with a west wind 33 to 36 mph decreasing to between 18 and 21 mph. Winds could gust as high as 49 mph.

Tuesday Night: A 30 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 29. Blustery, with a north northwest wind 17 to 20 mph decreasing to between 7 and 10 mph. Winds could gust as high as 24 mph. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of snow before 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41. South southeast wind at 5 mph becoming east northeast.

Now how could I go skiing without a car?

[snowy]

Originally Posted by new man

Now how could I go skiing without a car?

That's about the only thing my roommate uses his car for.

[Dammitall]

I grew up in a very walkable small village and walked to school every day, even as most of my classmates were being gifted expensive cars for their 16th birthdays. I went to college in New York City and had no use for a car there, either.

My partner and I own two cars (a sedan and a small pickup), but I still try to drive as little as possible. We moved to our current city because a commuter train line was opening up there that would allow me to ride into work in Washington, DC without having to drive. We're a mere mile from the downtown train station and I try to walk there or bike to the train station four miles away outside the city limits as often as possible.

This year I've been able to keep up my bicycle commute on good-weather days into December for the first time, thanks to some cycling-appropriate cold weather clothing, reflective stickers, multiple lights and a reluctant vote of confidence from my partner for nighttime riding. There's a stretch of my ride home with fairly heavy traffic and a speed limit of 45mph, and that can be pretty intimidating in the dark (daylight, too) but it's worth it to me.

I would personally be content with ditching one of our cars altogether. I'm sure the savings on car insurance and maintenance costs would be a significant boost for our budget. Most of the places I need to get to on a regular basis are within cycling distance in our city, and we've also got a decent local bus system. I personally don't have a problem with riding in bad weather, but my partner doesn't exactly like it so I tend to leave my bike at home when it's gross outside. For her part, she works three miles from our house and I've been trying to convince her to start riding too; she's said she'll consider it more seriously once the weather gets warm.

As for grocery shopping and running errands, I've got two saddlebag panniers and a roomy enough bag that I'm able to fit smaller amounts of stuff into on my own. For larger hauls I'd love to get an Xtracycle FreeRadical kit for one of my older commuter bikes that I don't use as much anymore. These things let you carry just about anything...



Still have to work on convincing my better half, though.


If anyone's considering taking up bicycle commuting, here's a nice site to help get you started.

[new man]

Of course, one of the tradeoffs for a car is the headaches of actually owning one. Driving my wife to work Thursday morning, snow has slowed traffic to a crawl. Tires on wet pavement tracks, going about 5 miles an hour stop and go. We stop, guy behind us doesn't, $2200 repair bill. His truck cleared our bumper and hit the trunk lid and rear quarter panel. This is the 4th time this car has been in the body repair shop in ten years. 1st time my fault, other people's fault the other three times.

[Italianman137]

i can not even fathom this idea. car=my life

[guyy]

Originally Posted by LoganSnake

Speed and convenience. That's really all the motivation I need to drive my car.

Standing in line at the DMV for license renewals, registration, etc.

Oil changes.

Insurance.

Parking -- always a joy, especially in big cities.

Shoveling your car out of snow, scraping windshields, defrosting.

Winter driving.

Traffic jams.

The speed and convenience of cars is greatly exaggerated.
-----Added 12/12/2008 at 12 : 10 : 28-----

Originally Posted by LoganSnake

Yes, the stores around us are within public transportation reach and moderate walking distance. The mall is 15 minutes away walking. Grocery store is 10 minutes away. Various eateries are scattered around the mall and are easily reachable by bus. However, why would I waste 5-10 minutes waiting for the bus, 20 minute ride, then walk to my destination when I can hop into my car and get there in a fraction of that time?

it doesn't always work out that way. Say you want to go to the grocery store during rush hour. It may very well take you as long to drive as to walk.

Then you have situations where things are close but the parking is not so convenient or perhaps too expensive. Your destination may be 5 minutes away, but you spend 20 more minutes circling for a spot, then another 20 minutes walking from the parking spot to where you really want to be. All of a sudden a 5 minute drive becomes 45 minutes. I had a commute like that once. ( google map ) I walked, rode the bus, or rode my bike because door-to-door it took me just as long to walk (45 minutes) as it did to drive.

[little_tippler]

Where I live there is pretty decent public transportation. I live just outside of Lisbon, 20 minutes away by train. I usually take the train to work, though I drive to the train station, only because getting there would mean an extra 30 minutes to wait for and catch a bus. Once in Lisbon I have to take another 15 minutes or so by subway to get to my workplace. Generall,y the places I go it's easy to get to by public transport. It's not the best here, but it's certainly not the worst. As far as I know, Lisbon has the only train line that goes right by the sea (literally, the sea is 20 m away from the line) so it's not a bad way to start the day. I do use my car when I need to get somewhere faster, or at night time because after a certain hour I don't feel safe in public transport. Once I was on the train at about 10 pm and some joker threw a rock at the train and it hit the window I was sitting at which, although it didn't shatter, made an impact wave that affected my hearing for days. So I avoid late hours on the train. I still remember clearly what it was like to have no car, and I know I got a lot less done. My life is pretty fast paced most of the time and without my car it would be tough to go everywhere I need to, especially when it's to get out of Lisbon or to more suburbial areas (where many of my arts suppliers are).

Anyway, here is a photo from the train I take to get to work, it's been stormy so this looks scary but trust me on a sunny day the view is gorgeous: