Alternatives to owning a car?

[Sunset]

I went without a car for 6 months in winter where the bus rides home took 2 hours via 2-3 buses.
I found I walked a lot, no need for a gym when you walk miles everyday.
I also used my bike (not motor-bike). I did ride on bike paths and the sidewalk more than the road as car drivers win all the time.
I got the grocery store to deliver groceries as they had a service for only $5, or you could use peapod.

OP - try it for a few months, track the cost, and see if it's worth it to you.

 

[iac1003]

I'm about to sell our second car (mine) tomorrow and move to 2 places where there are better transportation alternatives - walking, buses. I'll let you know how it turns out. We are keeping our 10 year old Subaru Outback for now.

I have to admit I have a bit of anxiety about it but not much. I also feel I won't be driving forever.


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[Focus]

Like you, I don't enjoy owning a car per se. But I very much enjoy the freedom and flexibility of going exactly where I want, whenever I want, and to carry stuff with me, and do it in a time-efficient manner.

Yep, I can relate to that.

If you are really going to need a car once or twice per day, you probably won't save any money with these services unless your car-owning expenses are higher than average (costs for parking at home, etc). Also, if you travel out of the city with any regularity, consider the costs and inconvenience of needing to get a rental car for those trips.

I wouldn't consider being car-free unless I lived on the established net of a efficient mass transit system, and I seldom traveled outside that net. I can't see that I'd ever choose to live in a place like that, for various reasons, but some people like it. I put less than 5K miles on our cars last year, but having them handy makes a lot of other things possible/easy.

All good points, along with the others shared by others above. Thanks.

 

[CyclingInvestor]

I have been carless for several stretches, maybe 10 years total, as an adult in the Los Angeles area. Never was really difficult, it was not a financial decision, I just preferred riding to driving. Even when I had a car it was unused for weeks sometimes. Good weather made it easy. I rented a car maybe once or twice a year.

 

[kcowan]

We went careless after we drove our car to Mexico and left it. We could manage just fine after we returned. Definitely more cost-effective. We decided to buy a used one for convenience but we still walk, bike and use transit whenever practical. And we can drink wine with dinner...

(In fact, our specialty is to buy a high mileage used car and turn it into a low mileage car through 5 years of ownership. Depreciation alone is more than we could ever justify!)

 

[JOHNNIE36]

We live in Sun City Center, Florida where golf carts are permitted on all the streets in the city with with one exception; they are not allowed on the main state routes through the city. There are five traffic lights on the state routes where you can cross in a golf cart. Golf carts are a normal way of life here. Also, there is public transportation exclusive to Sun City Center and the gated community of Kings Point. We have a hospital, many doctors offices, grocery and drug stores, banks, restaurants, etc. that are all accessible by golf cart. There are many communities in the country like this and all you have to do is Google the information. You might have to move but it is possible to survive in this world and never own a car.

 

[Ronstar]

Although we have 4 cars and do a lot of driving, I think going carless is doable. But it would take a certain kind of person in the right environment. I.e. Someone satisfied with walking, biking & mass transit in an urban area. You can always rent a car for occasional trips. I don't see how going carless would work in rural or suburban areas.


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[REWahoo]

Here is another alternative to owning: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/shared-auto-leasing-80316.html#post1681243

 

[Big_Hitter]

the only guy I know here without a car was a bartender at my golf club - he walked to work every day and lived downtown - last year he ended up packing up two suitcases and moving to SF where he doesn't need one


no way we could live here without at least one subaru

 

[Texas Proud]

We live in Sun City Center, Florida where golf carts are permitted on all the streets in the city with with one exception; they are not allowed on the main state routes through the city. There are five traffic lights on the state routes where you can cross in a golf cart. Golf carts are a normal way of life here. Also, there is public transportation exclusive to Sun City Center and the gated community of Kings Point. We have a hospital, many doctors offices, grocery and drug stores, banks, restaurants, etc. that are all accessible by golf cart. There are many communities in the country like this and all you have to do is Google the information. You might have to move but it is possible to survive in this world and never own a car.

Based on this discussion, I would put a golf cart in the category of 'car'.... IOW, you have a vehicle at your disposal to drive to any of the necessary places you need instead of public transportation or walking....

Sure, you cannot drive to another town, but how often do we actually do that? BTW, I can drive 50 plus miles and still be in the same 'town'... if you are real loose with the definition of town to include big cities..

 

[Big_Hitter]

Based on this discussion, I would put a golf cart in the category of 'car'.... IOW, you have a vehicle at your disposal to drive to any of the necessary places you need instead of public transportation or walking....

1) I don't need a license to drive my golf cart
2) it doesn't require a registration or emissions testing
3) it doesn't require liability insurance
4) it has batteries that are good for 10 years

 

[W2R]

I think a golf cart is a great idea, if it is reasonable and legal in one's community.

 

[samclem]

Based on this discussion, I would put a golf cart in the category of 'car'.... IOW, you have a vehicle at your disposal to drive to any of the necessary places you need instead of public transportation or walking....

I thought the same at first. But it differs sufficiently from a car that it deserves it's own category. But expenses for a golf cart are a LOT lower (esp registration and insurance). More fundamentally, you can drive it even if you can no longer get a drivers license, which is a big deal for many oldsters.

So, it does address several important reasons that a person might need to do without a car. But you are right, it doesn't address the OPS question about the suitability of Lift, Uber, etc for taking care of transportation needs.

 

[haha]

I thought the same at first. But it differs sufficiently from a car that it deserves it's own category. But expenses for a golf cart are a LOT lower (esp registration and insurance). More fundamentally, you can drive it even if you can no longer get a drivers license, which is a big deal for many oldsters.

So, it does address several important reasons that a person might need to do without a car. But you are right, it doesn't address the OPS question about the suitability of Lift, Uber, etc for taking care of transportation needs.

In many big cities an Uber driver is at most a few blocks away. The only downside is that it isn't exactly cheap, especially black car. I just hit Uber app for UberX 2 minute wait to a pickup at my home.

Ha

 

[FIREd]

It really depends on where you live. Where I live now (downtown San Francisco), it is very easy to get around without a car. I walk pretty much everywhere. If I need to go across town, I can either use Uber or public transportation. If I need to drive out of town, then I can get a ZipCar.

Next year, I will be moving to a small Southern city. We have decided to try and live there with a single car. It might be a challenge. Public transportation is unreliable and inconvenient. And the city sprawls over an area many times larger than the city of San Francisco. Thankfully, we are going to live in one of the rare walkable neighborhoods with amenities., so I think we can get away with only one car. But for most couples living there, two cars is standard.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Zipcar might be an option, but I would need the service to be located nearby.

 

[Andre1969]

I have a few friends who go car-less, but they tend to live either in DC proper, or close enough in the suburbs where public transportation is more convenient. I'm not that far from DC, maybe 10 miles from the border. However, the nearest subway (Metro) station is about 6 miles away. Nearest bus to get you to that Metro station is about a mile.

My job is only about 2.5 miles from home. Alas, the nearest bus stop in that direction? About two miles. At that point, might as well just walk the rest!

I grew up around cars, so the idea of going car-less, and giving up that freedom, just seems so alien to me. And as for my car-less friends, in many cases they still end up catching rides from other friends. So they're still depending on a car...just not their OWN car.

 

[savory]

I would reconsider the bike as part of your transportation choices. I have spoken to many people who simply feel uncomfortable riding their bike in traffic. With some guidance, they learn how to ride safely and with confidence. There are courses you can attend from the LAB or simply look online for tips. And/or visit your local bike store and ask them to introduce you to a bicycle commuter.

By adding a bike to your transportation options, it will add 5+ miles to your easy commute. I do it often, including today! 30 degrees, nice sunny day. 5.5 mile commute.

 

[Richard4444]

To Big Hitter: Here in Florida, one needs a drivers license to operate a golf cart, even in a place like The Villages (where I don't live). I am not sure about insurance.
I have not driven for 15+ years due to a visual impairment, and have gotten by fine via my S.O., Uber, and living withing walking distance of a strip mall and a real Mall a bit further. In the beginning, I freaked about not being able to drive, but it has never been a real problem. If I lived not in walking distance of a food store, restaurants, etc., it would have been un-doable. (Can I make up words?)

Rich

 

[FUEGO]

We've given this a lot of thought and can't do it right now with 3 kids. The car is very convenient even though we only use it a few times per week (bad weather, grocery runs, social visits across town, going out to city/state parks for hiking or swimming).

We are thinking about dropping from 2 cars to 1 since we haven't used both of them at the same time for the past year.

But we live in the city (kind of between the urban core and the start of the suburbs) so everything like parks, school, library, groceries, restaurants, and retail, and even some industrial supply places are walkable. 3 transit routes within a half mile in either direction to take us downtown, across town, and to the major hospitals.

Rental car storefronts are within a short walk too. Uber always shows a half dozen drivers within a few minutes, so that would work ($7-9 to downtown, a little less to pretty much every kind of retail imaginable other than an IKEA). I don't think we have a ZipCar type place within walking distance so I'd have to catch a bus to use one (and would probably just Uber it to wherever or get a rental car anyway).

So one day when the kids are out of the house we might go car free. I'm not sure how much it would save us because I'm just not spending much on car maintenance or operation right now since we drive so little. Depreciation is $1000/yr on our capital plan.

My expectation is that Uber (or a successor) will have self driving cars running at half or a quarter of the price of today's Uber and it will be a trivial expense to hop an iUber for a few bucks to go downtown or go shopping (the price of a bus ticket or metro pass in many cities). That might be 5 years away or 15 (or never depending on regulatory issues).

 

[LastOfTheBoomers]

Dropping from 2 cars to 1 car after downsizing to a small city was pretty easy after I learned that the second car was depreciating $200 a month - so after selling it - I consider that my rental car money - but after 18 months still have not rented a car.

 

[rodi]

We've been toying with the idea of dropping to one car. We're not super close to the bus (about a mile to the bus stop that services 3 routes.) But my kids take the public bus to school (faster and cheaper than the school district bus).

We've also been discussing, after the kids are launched, moving to a one story in a more walkable neighborhood. The neighborhoods I'm looking at all have car2go or zipcar available. Our closest car2go drop off spot is 2.5 miles away (with a big canyon in between so a LONG walk). For longer trips we'd rent a car.

I'm also considering getting a scooter... I could do all but the kid schlepping with a Vespa.

 

[aja8888]

I'm also considering getting a scooter... I could do all but the kid schlepping with a Vespa.

Works for a friend of mine (250 cc Vespa).

 

[Big_Hitter]

no airbag on a scooter

 

[Sunset]

no airbag on a scooter

Then no recall needed