Car-free living

[All uphill]

Well, two weeks car free and I have joyfully not had to reinsure (£180) or tax (£265). Clearly that's an annual saving.

Ms Au has used a taxi once (£17), not wanting to cycle on icy surfaces. She has also used the bus for two trips that would have been done by car (cost neutral).

Her employer is talking with her about a new role which would require her to have a car, so we will see.

I am enjoying the experience so far, and continue to use bike and trains. If it works for us in winter during rail strikes I am optimistic that it will be fine.

I'm enjoying the neighbours' curiosity - are we broke? No. Have I lost my licence? No. One kind person has offered us the loan of his car if we get stuck.

 

[Oldhippy]

Totally worth it in the long run Uphill.

 

[figbat]

I have never lived car-free but some good friends are a married couple, late 40s/50 with a teenage daughter. One a business consultant who sometimes travels to meet clients, the other works for a large international corporate. Neither of them even have a driving licence, let alone car, and never have. They appear to manage fine, although they have known nothing else, so it's a bit different from making a choice to give up a car.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I have never lived car-free but some good friends are a married couple, late 40s/50 with a teenage daughter. One a business consultant who sometimes travels to meet clients, the other works for a large international corporate. Neither of them even have a driving licence, let alone car, and never have. They appear to manage fine, although they have known nothing else, so it's a bit different from making a choice to give up a car.

Its definitely easier if you've never had a car, once you've had a car you know how convenient it can be and it can be difficult to let go of that.

 

[Alex321]

Welcome to car free life. It's fantastic (and easier than people think).

How easy it is depends a lot on other lifestyle choices, particularly where you choose to live.

For somebody living in a big city or town with good public transport, it can be quite easy. One of my brothers fits that description - he lives in Leeds with his wife and two early teenage kids, and has never owned a car, or indeed learned to drive.

But for somebody like my wife & I, who really don't want to live in a city, it is not so easy. We have never lived anywhere that open countryside was more than a couple of minutes walk away, or without green spaces in view from our windows, and wouldn't want to.

It wouldn't be impossible for us, there is a reasonable bus service to Cowbridge in one direction, or to Pontyclun (which has a railway station) the other way. But my wife now has very limited mobility, and it would be a struggle for her.

I fully accept that it is our choice to live where we do, but I don't regard changing that as "easy", and while we probably could live car-free, it wouldn't be easy without making that change.

 

[NorthernSky]

it's not practical for me to be car free but what i do try to commit to is car free days, at least one a week.
may not sound like much but it can be hard to do sometimes because it's usually the weekend where you have to commit to it, and that's the time you normally want to get out and about.
so i've found myself on a Saturday itching to get into the car but saying no and staying away from it. it feels good not contributing to and being stuck in traffic for a day and doing a small bit for the environment

 

[Littgull]

It will be 6 years in January since I went car-free. I haven't regretted it once. I retired from work at roughly the same time and we decided we didn't want the huge expense of running a car especially as costly repairs become unpredictable as the car ages. Fortunately, we have an extensive public transport system where we live and I also have several bikes with which I clock up a total of 100 miles a week throughout the year.
We have son no2, daughter in law and grandson living 200 miles away but manage regular visits by train keeping the cost down by planning ahead together to get the best value tickets. Also since reaching state pension age we have the free bus pass that provides unlimited travel after 9.30 am on weekdays and no restrictions at weekends. Living in Greater Manchester if we pay £10 each annually we can travel by train and tram free within the Greater Manchester footprint based on the above 'off peak' times of travel. It's a huge benefit which we use daily.

 

[All uphill]

Its definitely easier if you've never had a car, once you've had a car you know how convenient it can be and it can be difficult to let go of that.

It's fantastically convenient if the roads are empty, there is plentiful parking and you enjoy driving. Seems to me that almost never happens around here.

 

[Profpointy]

I saw this thread as "cat free living" and wondering why someone would start a thread about not having a cat. And then the next day I see the same again

Anyhow, as you were; carry on!

 

[Deleted member 1258]

It's fantastically convenient if the roads are empty, there is plentiful parking and you enjoy driving. Seems to me that almost never happens around here.

A car is just transport to me, the roads here are rarely empty and parking can be a pain, I'm in the position where I've got a car but can't use it for all trips, we're regularly having to use the buses to get around, using a car to get around is far more convenient.

 

[mjr]

It's fantastically convenient if the roads are empty, there is plentiful parking and you enjoy driving. Seems to me that almost never happens around here.

Only happens in car adverts.

Our car has just suffered another £55 fault related to spending most of its time parked out in the cold. Its big service cost over £400 this year, on top of the annual insurance and tests and fuel and all that jazz. Fortunately no tyres or brake parts this year.

If there was a car club, I'd probably push more to get rid, but we live in a county where the leaders say shoot like "cars are essential" and this is "a car county", so how do you get rid in an area where many basic services are designed for car users? Where you're basically expected to drive yourself or be driven to hospital for minor accident-emergencies? At least the ambulance strikes seems to have woken the taxi companies up to stop refusing to take emergency patients there.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Its definitely easier if you've never had a car, once you've had a car you know how convenient it can be and it can be difficult to let go of that.

This is true: car ownership seems incredibly inconvenient to me, especially with the moaning that goes on whenever the subject comes up. I just sit there, looking smug.

 

[Smokin Joe]

This is true: car ownership seems incredibly inconvenient to me, especially with the moaning that goes on whenever the subject comes up. I just sit there, looking smug.

I suppose we all think differently. The times I had no access to a car I found it pretty miserable.

 

[matticus]

Apparently the quite sick backlog have now been collected by the ambulances, so minor injuries etc are now overflowing. Hence my top tip for the rest of the week:

if you fall off your bike, make it a biggy.

 

[Andy in Germany]

How easy it is depends a lot on other lifestyle choices, particularly where you choose to live.

For somebody living in a big city or town with good public transport, it can be quite easy. One of my brothers fits that description - he lives in Leeds with his wife and two early teenage kids, and has never owned a car, or indeed learned to drive.

But for somebody like my wife & I, who really don't want to live in a city, it is not so easy. We have never lived anywhere that open countryside was more than a couple of minutes walk away, or without green spaces in view from our windows, and wouldn't want to.

It wouldn't be impossible for us, there is a reasonable bus service to Cowbridge in one direction, or to Pontyclun (which has a railway station) the other way. But my wife now has very limited mobility, and it would be a struggle for her.

I fully accept that it is our choice to live where we do, but I don't regard changing that as "easy", and while we probably could live car-free, it wouldn't be easy without making that change.

As you say, you made a choice and one consequence of that is that life would be incredibly inconvenient for you without a car.

Thanks for being honest by the way; many people just say they "can't" live without a car, without considering how their lifestyle choices affect their transport needs: they choose a lifestyle that needs a car then complain about fuel prices.

I live in a smallish town in a fairly rural area; I'd quite like to live in a more rural area, but I've had to accept it isn't going to happen unless I get a car, and for me that's too high a cost to pay, having seen the cost first hand. I've also chosen where I live carefully, which made for a difficult job of finding an apartment; most people don't understand why commuting 50 kilometres a day isn't possible.

That said, most sensible people and politicians who discuss alternatives understand that rural transport needs are different to urban transport needs.