Commuting - Less car, yes. But with family??

The thread about how much $$ people save by using their bike instead of the car really got me fired up to go carless!! Only thing is there are two kids (1 and 3 yrs old) and my sweet wife to keep in mind. Also, since I sometimes have to drive across town on short notice and with a deadline for work I need to fossil fuel it about half the time. That's inescapable. But the family thing... I'm wondering how many of you do the car-less or car-lite thing with a family also involved. How do you work that? Any good tips for organizing family life on a bike?

Currently, I have a Burley D'lite trailer and take my oldest to preschool several days a week. That is fun, but I'm looking for more ways to bike-it and rely less on that car...oh, and save some change too.

--Chris

I think what most people who are bike adovates and environmentalists hope to see isn't that people go completely carless. What would be so helpful would be if people would simply not use their car when a bike would be a reasonable alternative.

Going carless (especially with small children) simply isn't tenable for most people in our society. We simply don't make it easy for people to get around in our society by anything other than a car, both in options and in terms of safety. Given how we as a society have decided to focus in terms of transportation (ie: cars), even relying on public transportation is a huge burden for people with families, especially if they can afford a car.

What environmentalists like me would like to see isn't that everyone give up their cars. Rather, I would love to see people just take one or two fewer trips a week by car and use a bike or use public transportation instead. Internal combustion engines are by far most inefficient during the first mile or two of travel. Unfortunately, the typical errand trip isn't too much longer for many people. If people could or would just take their bike or public transportation instead, you'd be surprised what a world of different that alone would make.

Even commuting by bike, carpool, or public transportation just once a week or even once every other week would do wonders for our dependence on fossil fuels and the damage we do to the environment.

I agree with the post above. There is a lot of middle ground between going carless and being car dependent.

I agree -- there is a middle ground.
If you're looking for reading material, one interesting book on the topic is "Divorce your Car: Ending the love affair with the automobile" by Katie Alvord. A lot of it is common sense, but it also has a lot of good ideas about how to reduce (not neccesarily eliminate) your car dependence.

What has really worked for us is being a ONE car family. We went from two (my wife's and mine) to one (my wife's of course).

I commute 100% by bike. If I need to go out of town, my wife drops me at the airport, or if driving, I rent a car. We also have the option that my wife can drop me and my bike off at work (or where ever else need be) or pick me up. We've only done that once, during a severe electrical storm.

If I need to run an errand that requires the car, I go after work or on Saturday. It sometimes takes a little precoordination, but it's not really hard. In fact, it has been pretty much zero impact, except that we now have more room in the garage (for bikes of course), and more money in the bank account.

Dave

I'll just reiterate the post above. This is precisely what my wife and I have done. My wife and daughter have full control of the vehicle during the day and I ride. We hardly notice the difference between two cars and one other than the dramitically reduced expense.

Hey everybody, thanks for the thoughtful (and reasonable) replies. I sometimes get carried away with myself and I think I was on the verge of that here. For me, there is no way whatsoever to go carless. In fact, mostly because of my work schedule (24 hrs on, 48 off), there is no way to even cut out one of the two cars. (How I long to get rid of that insurance payment though!)

I've only been biking around town, doing things previously done by car, for a few weeks now. I've started to notice not filling up as often, and a couple times in the past week the car sat collecting dust for a whole day. I'll have to be satisified with this. I think that with more time, as I clock more miles on the bike computer I'll be able to run some numbers and see, as y'all point out above, that it really is making a difference.

--Chris

We've got 2 cars but I do the vast majority of my commuting by bike.

The 1st car is the family estate (stationwagon?), the 2nd is a cheap (old) mini metro which is only good for short trips (like my wife going to work at weekends).

For us it is just the flexability of being able to us it if we needed to.

Well, Txthroop, you probably can't go 100% carless with kids to shuttle to the doctor and school, but you can work them slowly up to cycling themselves. :)

Have you ever seen the tag-a-long trailers? Your kids are still too young, but it's like a little extra seat and pedals to convert your bike into a semi-tandem, giving your kid a chance to sit on the back and help you pedal. Something to think about when they're getting too old for the trailer but too young to ride their own bikes...

I make my choice to cycle. I'm not going to force anyone else (let alone my wife and kids) to cycle.

We have always been a 1 car family and over the last 25 years we have only used 2.

Along with my mileage on the bike I keep track of in a book, I note if I ran an errand on the bike. That helps to encourage me to use, and see how often I do use the bike, when I can, as much as possible for trips others would take in their cars.

I don't have any kids, but one of the book s I've read said the author and his wife with kids, were carless, and utalized public transportation, and something I hadn't thought about, a taxi. The author stated that they still saved money or lessened expenses by using the taxi cab. I think there was a poster that said he was taking a taxi when he purchased his monitor and computer. So there are some of us that do it without a steel coffin.

I ride to work, 26 miles rt when I can. I also use the bike to make trips to the local stores all less than one mile from home. A major problem arises for me when I would like to go to one of the larger stores and I have to rub elbos with fast 4 lane trafic! I would ride even more if it wasn't for taking my life into some cell phone distracted teenagers hands on the crowded central town road. On most errands I weigh if it will be feasable for me to do them by bike before getting into the S10.

Closetbiker, I like your idea of a log because I enjoy biking for the thrill of it but looking at impressive numbers racked up over time would serve as an additional motivator.

Naisme--do you remember the name of the book? I'd like to read about other commuters.

Luckily for me, around here if the roads are big and busy there is usually an alternate route that is much more enjoyable and not too much longer than the obvious automobile route.

Richards Bicycle Book I had to look at it this afternoon, cause I was quoting it and wanted to make sure I got it right.
There's another bbicycle tip book that's okay, I'm not sure of the title, but it's like Commuter tip book. I'll look for it at home and post it too.
Of course there is our upcoming primer too.

Originally posted by Txthroop
The thread about how much $$ people save by using their bike instead of the car really got me fired up to go carless!! Only thing is there are two kids (1 and 3 yrs old) and my sweet wife to keep in mind. Also, since I sometimes have to drive across town on short notice and with a deadline for work I need to fossil fuel it about half the time.
You don't have to go carless. It's not an either/or supposition.

You can use your bike to limit the wear and tear on your car. That means less gas, less parking cost and fewer repairs (repairs are my most hated expense, since they come like a flood.) Heck, one water pump, one transmission, one emission inspection failure can cost far more than a month's rent, or two--or a new bike (or two!)

Keep your car for your family. Ride your bike when you can. Who knows, it may save you tens of thousands by avoiding a heart attack later on.

hey chris,

some time back i ran across some really great articles about being car free as a family. see http://www.unconventionalideas.com/urban.html and "Institute for Urban-Style Family Living"

and here's the intro

Is it possible to raise successful, and happy children in other than traditional far-flung suburbs where car use is virtually mandatory? Can we be good parents in the USA if we don't have at least two cars per family? If we take our children out of such neighborhoods, will they still have friends? Will their schools be lousy? Will they get bored and end up hating us for "ruining" their life?

anyway, some interesting articles, particularly "Sold the Gas-Guzzling Van Today: Our family of four is now on bikes" at http://www.unconventionalideas.com/soldvan.html which is about the personal experience of a family who goes carless

but in general, car-limited or one-car family is the biggest step to freedom - being totally car-free is the ultimate but requires a few changes of attitute in today's car-dominated society!

I think the ideal aim is car free, but for most people this is impractical. My aim is to minimise the use I make of the car. Ours tend to be used only for shopping trips (and if we could rely on Tesco.com to deliver correctly even that wouldn't be needed), my wife to her work 2 days a week (no suitable alternative), and transport for the dogs to training classes etc.

We've bought another, smaller, car so we don't need to use the estate if the dogs aren't with us.

I commute full time by bike, using public transport if weather or meetings decree I can't.

We also walk wherever possible and use PT at the weekend if we can.

Of course there is our upcoming primer too.[/COLOR] [/B][/QUOTE]

What is this? I'd like to hear about it.

As much as I would like to heave-ho the car and rely on a bike it isn't going to happen. I love cycling but there is no way I would expect my wife to use it for transport. She doesn't want to or need to. This is probably a similar situation for most couples. I like cycling she doesn't. Just as she likes gardening and I don't. Cycling is not only a mode of transport it is also a hobby, and not everyone has the same hobbies.

Either way most couples/families will need a car to transport larger items or even go on holidays. At the moment we are spending weekends buying gardening supplies, plants, shrubs, tools etc. A car is the only viable solution.

Forget about taxi's they don't want sheep poo and other organic mater in their car, not to mention it takes up to 3 hours to go to the various suppliers to get the necessary items, and there is no way a taxi is waiting for us that long.

So a car is the only option available, that's why they were invented.

We manage with one car but there are times I wish, I still had my car.

CHEERS.

Mark

Whoops!! That was supposed to be a quote from Naisme's post.

I won't try again, but what is this "upcoming Primer?"

Yes, Dutchy, yes. That just about sums it up for us. My interest in biking has developed recently but my wife and I have been shacking up for a decade. This was not something our relationship or our lifestyle grew around and her interest in it is limited to supporting me in a wholesome endeavor. So, like many people have suggested, I'll stick to biking when I can and caging it when I must. Ya know, there's a distinct possibility that an approach like this will allow me to enjoy riding more than if it was my only form of transportation. Keeps it recreational to a degree.

I've mentioned this in other postings, but the enCYCLEopedia series of books is a great catalog/reference for what they call "alternatives in bicycling". It is published annually, and I've been able to find a couple of the later editions at Borders bookstores. The books usually have sections/commentary/advice on family cycling for recreation and transportation.

They also maintain a web page:


Encycleopedia - The Guide to Alternatives in Cycling (http://www.encycleopedia.com/index.cfm)

Another poster mentioned "Richard's 21st-Century Bicycle Book" by Richard Ballantine which is a great all-around reference to all sorts of bicycling.

So many bicycling publications and books focus on mtn biking and road biking these days, it's nice to come across those like the above that focus on other aspects of cycling.

enjoy.