Title. I asked the same question on the car enthusiast community. Please share thoughts here for comparison.
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If you live in a car dependent country (like the US), you will have to use a car sadly (if you aren’t living in a city).
- Saving Money
- Better for environment
- It’s safer for everyone
- No need to find a parking spot :D
- More social interaction opportunities
- Can go for a drink without having to think about it
- Don’t have to work for the benefit of the automotive and oil industries
I lived in a walkable city for a decade and now live in a more rural area where cars are a necessity.
Now that I need a car, I need to:
- Keep my driver’s license up to date
- Pay tolls/monitor my transit account
- Renew my registration every year
- Get the car inspected every year
- Pay for my car insurance
- Remember to refuel
- Keep up with oil changes and general maintenance
- Monitor tires and wipers for degradation
- Keep the interior clean and tidy
- Budget extra money away for more expensive repairs or service
- Deal with snow removal for a driveway
As someone with ADD the extra responsibilites are stressful and often slip by me, not to mention the costs add up. It’s also omnipresent in my mind that on any given day that I drive, especially on the highway, statistically that is the most likely way I will die considering my current age and health. I don’t miss carting my groceries around in the snow or rain, and it’s nice to be able to move large, heavy items relatively easily, but man I miss the freedom of just leaving my door and walking somewhere.
Growing up with cars as the norm, you don’t realize how much it sucks till you list it out like that.
I keep wondering whether I raised my kids right or deprived them. My older is 18 and has no interest in driving - he’s also anxious about his adhd. But I’ve had to really push to get him to do any time behind the wheel. My younger is really jumping on the opportunity to drive but expects to live in a walkable city with transit like we do now - he’s used to being able to go anywhere without a car
That’s all well and good, and we should all aspire to that, but what are the chances they can live without cars here in the US? They probably should be able to, even if they think “most places you do t need a car”
It’s certainly possible to live in a walkable place but it’ll be very expensive. Most actually walkable areas in the US are in well established cities in the east where the “bones” of their layout were built before the GM conspiracy played out. I could barely afford to live there at the time and probably couldn’t afford to live there now. There are still some towns out there that haven’t lost their downtown main streets though. Unfortunately I think the path forward for the moment looks like settling for car dependency and pushing your local area to make positive changes for pedestrians and alternative transport.
I currently live in a very walkable area.
Rent is indeed significantly more expensive, but not when factoring rent/transportation together. (At least in my experience).
For an equivalent apartment in the suburbs & a car, it comes out as roughly the same cost as my current apartment without a car.
I save a huge amount of money compared to somebody with a car. HUGE.
- I don’t have to pay off the car,
- I don’t need to buy a driver’s licence,
- I don’t need to pay road tax,
- I don’t need to pay for an annual MOT,
- I don’t need to pay for service checkups,
- I don’t need to pay for fuel/oil/fluids/parts that wear out or break,
- I don’t need to pay for insurance,
- I don’t need to pay for parking spaces, etc etc.
All I need to pay for is a bus, tram, or train ticket, and I can easily get anywhere in the city with minimal walking time.
And heck, that’s cheap. All the buses are capped at £2.00 regardless of the journey length, for example! Two quid!
There are a lot of other benefits too. For example, I don’t have to worry that someone will nick my car, and I don’t have to make sure I live somewhere with parking available.
Owning a car just seems like such a ball and chain, especially considering how fragile that relationship can be. One day everything’s great, the next day boom, you need to fork out 2 grand for repairs, or maybe the car’s just… gone.
2 quid buses is amazing. Shitey First Bus doesn’t even get me out of the first zone for 2 quid.
Move to Vienna, 365 euros for all year day and night (weekends and public holidays) public transport. Half of it if your company pays the other half. And if you use Wien Energie you’ll get some free days electricity on top.
I agree with all of this and will add that personally it helps keep me even fitter as I cycle to work everyday and will cycle or skate depending on the distance to anywhere feasible.
The only downside is the adhorrent prices on the trains over here. The amount they charge is quite frankly disgusting!
Sounds like you’re lucky where you live. Where I lived in the UK there was no way you’d be able to get around with just public transport.
Only issue I have is folks should have a driver’s licence, to be able to safely operate a car in an emergency or unexpected situation. Just to give you the option.
I understand it would be rare to need to step in as driver if you committed to this lifestyle, but it would be better to be safer than sorry
Do you mean safely operate a car, or legally operate a car? Learning the basics to safely operate a car is fairly straightforward and good fun, at least to a level that’s on par with a typical licensed driver. However going through the whole process to get a formal drivers license is a different matter and is often quite expensive.
In many states you can train with a family member, and the application is 30-50 bucks. Not free, but you shouldn’t operate a car without a license.
Colorado for example,
Complete a written test, complete several hours supervised driving, eye test, driving test, pay.
Could probably be done in a week then you’re legal
I wasn’t specifically talking about the US. The US has unusually low requirements, because when it’s basically required to drive to participate in society, you have to set the bar low enough that the dumbest, poorest, most disabled, reckless idiots that definitely shouldn’t be driving still do.
And yeah, obviously you shouldn’t operate a car without a license except in emergencies, it’s illegal. Is enforcement really that bad in the US that this needed to be said?
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Not having to spend money on insurance, maintenance, fuel, repairs, etc.
Even using expensive SBB for work is a bit cheaper than using a car.
SBB?
Swiss Federal Railways (Schweizerische Bundesbahnen)
Schweizer Bundes Bahn
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Less stressful. I never have to worry about accidentally killing anyone, except for that time I bought worcestershire sauce because I didn’t know it had anchovies
I literally do not believe that you just know how to spell Worcestershire.
I really like Worcestershire, I was heartbroken to learn it wasn’t vegan. Now I have to put Nando’s hot sauce in my spaghetti sauce and who knows what they put in that?
You’ll have to trek to Sheffield and smuggle out some Hendersons.
I have vegan worcestershire! Let’s see if I can find where I got it… BAM!
I very nearly made the same mistake once, but damn me if I don’t read the label first.
Can’t say that’s something I’ve ever worried about…
Then you’re either not a driver, or not a responsible driver
I’ve got wrid of my car 3 years ago. The benefits I’ve encountered.
- I save about 500 euros a month (this is a conservative calculation)
- Commuting has become something I can’t control so I’ve let go.
- I ride my bicycle a lot more. It has made me healthier and I’ve lost about 15 kgs
- No more searching for parking spots, paying for parking fines,…
- The mental load of owning a car is gone. No maintenance, no insurance, no low emission zones.
- I’ve become more aware about the room cars take up in our streets and our society.
On the occasions we need a car I rent one or use a car sharing service.
Money - a lot of people are not aware of the money a car costs over a period of time.
Dependency - you are only able to drive a car in a special time of your life. If you are too young or too old you are not allowed - or it is very dangerous - to be the driver of a car. There are places you are just able to go by car. This is a problem: they are just made for car people. For instance: malls outside a city. Nobody is shopping in the inner citys, while everybody have to take the car to the mall. This system needs a lot of good working roads, parking spaces and other infrastructure.
Health - in regards of physical activity or is a lot healthier to live in an area where you are able to take public transport. Due to the last mile, which you are probably going by bike or by feet, you get your daily “workout”. Also you are emitting much less emissions into the air. It seems that particulate matter of the reason for a lot of illnesses of our time.
Public Space - you are consuming much less public space than people who are owning a car. Parking lots are in habitats of humans all around. They cost a lot of money, are sealing good soil and the precious space in city is wasted to it. There are such nice projects all around the world, where former parking spaces or streets where changed to spaces for everyone.
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Sure thing! But there is not the need for every person to own a 1to steel case to go anywhere. Cars need a lot more infrastructure than an integral system, where you are able to use and change between bus/train/bike/walk/e-scooters - and so on - to reach your target.
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I need very little infrastructure to get around on my bike. I can ride on dirt tracks or grass, I can carry it up and down steps, I can weave through alleys or traffic jams. It needs no fuel and I mostly maintain it myself. Car centric cities often have no meaningful bike infrastructure and yet cycling is still viable. It is the cheapest, most free, most egalitarian mode of transport.
Is is pleasant without infrastructure? Is it safe? No, dedicated cycle lanes are very important.
You are forced to take your bicycle far more often. No excuses. You cannot just take the car whenever you feel lazy, tired or if the weather is mediocre. Your health will benefit from this a lot.
No need to concentrate when traveling. Public transport is nearly “brain off” time while I get whisked away to another place. Sure, it could be better and faster, but at least I don’t have to pay a higher subscription to let my vehicle stand outside for 99% of its life.
(Do not) Try reading a book while driving vs reading a book while using public transport showcases that a lot.
It’s going to be an audiobook for me in either situation. ;)
For me, the biggest benefit is the mental load I no longer have. I used to have to think about maintenance, MOT schedule, road tax scheduling, insurance scheduling, renewing my parking certificate, how much I drink, where I’m going to park, did I run out of time on the parking meter, is there traffic on my route, where are the road works…
The mental energy I’d waste just to deal with a car was massive. There’s still mental energy with public transit, like what is the schedule and which bus do I need to be on to make it in time, and what do I do if a stop isn’t near my destination, but it’s a lot less mental load than having a car.
I use the transit app for planning my rides on public transport when abroad. It makes planning a breeze. In my own country our national transport companies have decent planners in their apps.
I use the transit app for planning my rides on public transport when abroad. It makes planning a breeze. In my own country our national transport companies have decent planners in their apps.
- No cost to buy or lease one
- No insurance premium
- No taxes (my state has an annual “luxury tax” on all vehicles)
- No maintenance costs
- No worries about it being stolen
- No gas
- Less chance being involved in an auto accident
In a dense city finding parking is a huge pain that can take half the time of the drive lol
You are saving money, that’s pretty much it. More exercise I guess too.
Merely not owning a car really only saves you money and gives you exercise, yeah.
The much, much bigger difference is in urban design: living somewhere where you don’t need a car vs living somewhere where you do.
I’ve lived in a few places where you don’t need a car, with populations ranging from 2.5k to 4 million. I currently live on a small hobby farm just outside the edge of suburbia, and grew up in suburbia.
Living somewhere where you don’t need a car is great. Being able to walk to a dozen restaurants in 5 min or to the grocery store in 5 min is amazing. Owning a car in a city is a pain - needing to find parking, having to move for street cleaning, etc. There’s little advantage unless you need if for your commute.
Living somewhere car centric honestly kinda sucks. It takes longer to drive to anything in suburbia than it does to walk to it in a small walkable town. That 5 minute walk to the store? How about a 10 minute drive instead? Walking 5 minute to a restaurant? Why not drive 15 instead? Walking to a bar? No, get a designated driver or Uber instead. It also leads to really ugly scenery - giant parking craters are literally no one’s idea of beauty. There’s a reason people will willingly walk a few miles down a small town’s mainstream, but will literally drive to the other side of a strip mall rather than walk it. And driving in bumper to bumper traffic is soul sucking. Suburbanites will literally drive to a gym to get on a treadmill. I think that says something.
I have several high quality local restaurants plus a mall thing with several more decent chains, all 5 minutes away with ample parking. A Wegmans as well when I can far more easily bring back an entire cart of food. There are plenty of suburban areas that are densely populated enough to have lots of close by things.
I’m guessing this is assuming you live somewhere that is built with the infrastructure to support people without cars?
It would be way more expensive for my family not to own a car, unfortunately.
Where I live?
None.
You’re trapped.
Fuck cars, but some (many) places force your dependency either through bad city & infrastructure design, or just because it’s rural and hundreds of miles from the nearest city. In places that don’t, I’d still own an old beater, but riding my bike around would be my primary.
It’s all designed for the car not for the people. Sadly.
Same here. A bus ride to the city takes me roughly 60 minutes. Not counting walking to the bus stop.
Or, 20 to drive. I hate cars, but damn it saves a ton of time.
