Living Car Free - How to ditch the car and really really mean it?

G'day everyone

I've come to the conclusion that I'm addicted to my car. Its true, I'm an addict, and I'm here for help.

My situation is fairly simple. I'm a single (no kids), full time student that lives within about 40mins ride of my university, I live right along a major busway, and within 3mins walk of a major train line. I work one day a week at a medical clinic which is just too far away to ride, particularly given that I like to sleep in on Saturday mornings (I have to be at work by 8am on Sat) and there are no shower facilities). The only other time that I can really see myself needing a car is to go visit my parents, however there is no reason I couldn't catch a train to the end of the line and either ride the last 10km or get my little sister to come pick me up (yeah yeah yeah, the lazy option).

So here is the idea. I want to ditch the car. But I only want to ditch the car for 6.5 days a week. What I need though is ideas of where I might be able to leave my car during the week, but in such a way that it is easily retrievable for work on Saturdays... yet not so easy that it becomes a viable option to wuss out on during the week. I'm not sure that I've been too clear but hope someone has understood what I'm trying to say.

I guess some of the options would be
A) leave the car parked (with a steering wheel lock etc) out the front of, say, a friends place that is about 6km away. this way its an easy ride on Sat mornings to retrieve the car and I'll have someone to keep an eye on it.

B) Suck it up, leave the car at the parents and ride ride ride everywhere including work.

C) Get myself a lockup garage some distance from home and use the money I save on fuel to pay the rent.

The car is a bit of a beater... its a 1999 Hyundai Excel that I've not exactly taken care of. The city I live in is relatively safe and as long as nothing valuable is left visible in the car I'm not too worried about it being stolen. Besides, I've got third party property, fire & theft insurance so that would help cover it if it were to disappear.

So... any suggestions? Option A seems like it could be a bit of a goer, but I"m sure there is something I've not thought about. Has anyone else tried this approach? Any success stories? Any dismal failures?

Cheers !

Scott

Park it somewhere it'll get blocked in

Park it somewhere it'll get blocked it

Sorry, I'm not quite sure I understand what you're saying

It really just comes down to not wanting to drive anymore. If you choose option "A" and park it at a friends place it is still close enough to go and get at anytime, which kinda defeats the purpose. Option "C" is kinda the same, except now you gave to pay for a garage too. Option "B" makes the most sense out of the three you have given.

I would just sell the car and ride. When it is your only option it no longer seems like a difficult choice.

i let a buddy store a trailer in our driveway....my truck was behind the trailer...

Can you sell the car and get a scooter instead? It's much easier to store, is nearly as fast as a car, and gets much better gas mileage. You'll only ever have trouble when it rains, but I suppose you already own raingear, right?

I would lean toward the "bike to work on Saturday" option. It seems pretty extravagant to put up with all the expenses of owning a car -- gas, maintenance, insurance, registration fees, depreciation, and maybe even garage rental -- just to drive it to work once a week.

Run the numbers yourself, though. Figure out what insurance, registration fees, and routine maintenance are costing you per week. Add the gas you burn on that Saturday commute, and parking if applicable...and you've just calculated what you will be "paid" each week (tax-free!) to ride your bike to work. (With a one-time cash bonus at the beginning, for selling your car.)

Waking up early on Saturday might be a lot easier once you know you're being well paid for it.


Edit: removed reference to California. I was mixing up two different threads.

Just do what I did.

Crash your car into a tree.

How far away is work on Saturday mornings? I think that's the big thing to consider here.

Sorry, I'm not quite sure I understand what you're saying

Sorry, I just got in when I wrote that. it=in

I would lean toward the "bike to work on Saturday" option. It seems pretty extravagant to put up with all the expenses of owning a car -- gas, maintenance, insurance, California registration fees, depreciation, and maybe even garage rental -- just to drive it to work once a week. +1. Saturday morning is a gorgeous time to ride a bike. How far away is that Saturday job?


I work one day a week at a medical clinic which is just too far away to ride, particularly given that I like to sleep in on Saturday mornings (I have to be at work by 8am on Sat) If you have to be at work at 8, then you're not sleeping in no matter how you get there. By my standards sleeping in = getting up in the afternoon. :)

Another possibility: are there cheap rental options around? Or - hey - even a taxi. If you're resolved to only use the car for two trips a week, a rental car or a taxi might end up costing you less than all the insurance, gas etc. etc.

Is there any reason why you can't just leave the car where you are and not use it unless you have a significant commute? From the perspective of cost I would say if you have someplace to store the car safely do so and only put insurance on when you need it. I'm not sure about Australia's regulations, but the cheapest bet is some kind of moped/bicycle w/ power assist for the all trips provided you don't have to pay insurance/registration on it. If you want to bicycle for a workout you can whenever you want, but a DIY electric bike is so much cheaper than riding because food prices are high per useful kWh, and much more environmentally responsible for most people given where they get their food. A gasoline moped/bike is more expensive, but still usually cheaper than food, provided there aren't any additional fees besides gas/installation. Iono, it really depends on what you want. A DIY electric bike is the easiest, cheapest, fastest, and cleanest option, and you can still bike normally too.

auto share or zipcar might work for you, but if you find the commute too far by bike on sat mornings, I suggest trying a taxi or arranging a carpool with a co-worker (cycle to the co-workers place, and grab a ride to work for example).

The biggest benefit of going car free is that you save cash.

The other thing you can do is let a nearby friend use the car in return for a) insuring it (saving you money) and b) letting you use it saturday mornings.

good luck

Take a class in willpower ;)

Just do what I did.

Crash your car into a tree.

I tried that, but I just wasn't convincing enough :)


Thanks for all the replies, its a bit hard to keep a conversation going from the other side of the world unfortunately but I'll give it a go.

The ride on Sat mornings would be a minimum of 20km (I just looked it up on google earth and the straight line distance was 20.4km). Although I could easily cover this distance in say, an hour, the only real way to get from A to B in this case is along THE major highway in my state. 2 lane main road I can handle, but 4 lane highway... not so much :( The second problem with this idea is that we are about to come into summer in Australia where the temperatures are regularly in the 30 degree range from sunup to sunset, and there are no shower facilities anywhere near work. (FYI. work itself is an outer suburban medical practice so most of the facilities for bike riders that we have in the city centre just don't exist thanks to the Australian car addicted psyche).

That said, I hadn't considered the motorbike / scooter option before and think that may be a winner. I should be able to pick up a Honda CT-110 "postie bike" for about a grand at the auctions and rego / insurance is pretty cheap as its only a single seater. The bike is a 110cc 3 spd centrifugal clutch utility bike used to deliver mail all over Australia so would be a bit more practical and similarly priced to a 50cc scooter.

I suppose one of the hard parts is that I'm not sure that I could sell rid of my car. From an economoic stand point, its depreciated about all it is going to anytime soon (I've owned it since new, but the second hand value of this model car has hardly moved at all for the last 2 years), the insurance costs are minimal, and the car has great utility value. With the rear seats down (and they always are), you wouldn't believe how much gear you can fit into the back of a Hyundai Excel. Unfortunately Australia is full of incredibly vast distances with very little public transport linking the regions and I travel a fair bit for university (mostly for 1-2 month clinical rotations which are up to 2500km away). That said, I think at least in the short term I'd be happy to accept the costs involved of having the car sit immobile for the vast majority of the time, and use that time to break the shackles of car dependence for inner-city living where possible. I also have a very strong emotional attachment to this car (yeah yeah, laugh if you will) which will make selling it when the time comes difficult enough.


The other thing you can do is let a nearby friend use the car in return for a) insuring it (saving you money) and b) letting you use it saturday mornings.

This is another great idea that certainly has promise. I'll start asking around and see if I can find any interest. It was mentioned in an earlier post that if the car is so close then the temptation will be there to just go and get it, and while I agree that the temptation will most certainly be there, my average trip length is probably less than than the distance to my friends house, in which case it would actually be easier to ride or take public transport to my original destination.


Take a class in willpower ;)

Yeah :) but the next class that starts at my local college is in March. My flatmate actually lives car free... has done for about 5 years and I really respect that. Last month her parents went on holiday and offered her their car while they were away, an option she took them up on. She noticed straight away that her desire to walk or use public transport dissapeared instantly, and that the car became her no. 1 preffered mode of transport. By the end of the month she was happy and eager to give the car back so the temptation was gone. We're both happy to accept that we're weak willed individuals... but if the circumstances are right, we're both more than happy to "do the right thing". Pathetic I know, but its the way things are.

Wow, for interests sake I just looked up the public transport options between my unit and work for a Saturday morning, and there is NOTHING!!! I figured that something would exist even if it took 1+ hours with connections, but according to the integrated transport website for my city, not a single viable service exists that would get me to work on a Sat morning.

So... to translate, your trip on Saturday mornings would be a little more than 12 and a half miles, with temps above 86*F- Sorry, I tried to think in funny numbers, but it always comes back to that Imperial stuff.

You can't go the whole way on public transport, but is it possible to bike halfway and train or bus halfway? I'm assuming you can take your bike on the public system, since you mentioned a train/ bike trip to your parent's place. If you can bike the first half, you'll have time on the bus to cool down, then you can clean up/ change when you get there.

You're a med student, right? Is anyone else in your class assigned to the same clinic and similar hours? If so, could you bike to their place and catch a ride?

j.

You can get rid of your car and do a fund-raiser at the same time! Find an open lot where the owner will let you do this and make sure you take all of the legal precautions (waivers, getting rid of the glass, gasoline, anything else flammable, etc.). You'll need a sledgehammer. Now, set your car in that open lot and put out a sign to charge $3 per swing (or 5 Swings for $10 or something like that). You will have no option but to trash the car and you'll have some extra cash!

You can't go the whole way on public transport, but is it possible to bike halfway and train or bus halfway? I'm assuming you can take your bike on the public system, since you mentioned a train/ bike trip to your parent's place. If you can bike the first half, you'll have time on the bus to cool down, then you can clean up/ change when you get there.

You're a med student, right? Is anyone else in your class assigned to the same clinic and similar hours? If so, could you bike to their place and catch a ride?

I've started looking into the half / half option as it could be a good way to go, but it seems that the main problem with public transport is that most of the outer suburban routes don't appear to run that early on a Saturday morning. On a weekday I'd be spoilt for choice, the fact that its on the weekend seems to be the problem. Will have to do some more thorough investigation when I get home this arvo.

Yeah, I'm a first year med student, however this is actually for my job as I'm also a registered nurse. Usually we only have one receptionist (all of whom live a short distance from the clinic), myself and two doctors on a Saturday morning and very few of them live anywhere near me. That said, one of the doctors at my clinic lives about 100m down the street from me so on the weekends that he will be working (about one in six), we've already planned a car pool.


You can get rid of your car and do a fund-raiser at the same time! Find an open lot where the owner will let you do this and make sure you take all of the legal precautions (waivers, getting rid of the glass, gasoline, anything else flammable, etc.). You'll need a sledgehammer. Now, set your car in that open lot and put out a sign to charge $3 per swing (or 5 Swings for $10 or something like that). You will have no option but to trash the car and you'll have some extra cash!

Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. :) sounds like a great idea... but I might leave that as say... plan B.

Throw your license away. If you literally *can't* drive, you won't.

Lol - your greeting should have twigged me that your location is Southern Hemisphere Aus, and not the landlocked mountainous one :). I imagine snow and rain are not going to be a big problem then. FWIW I just go to work sweaty, it doesn't bother me - but I get that others don't feel the same way (I do wear anti-perspirant though :p)

If your location is not very rainy, I would totally go for the scooter/motorcycle option.

Just do what I did.

Crash your car into a tree.

That was very unfair to the tree! :rolleyes:

Sell the car and buy a scooter or a motorcycle.

If you just want to get around on motor power AND keep your bicycle, get an electric bike / gasoline engine powered bike ...

Why not just leave the car parked at your house, but leave the keys at school. Take the keys home on Friday, so you can drive to work.
After you get used to that, you may want to find another way to get to work. It won't hurt to take it step by step though.

If you're going car-light or car-free, start by making it a game.

Fill the tank tomorrow (at the end of the month) and see how long you can make it last. If you've been going through a tank of fuel every week (which seems like the average for a lot of the motorists around here) try for two weeks. If you're at two weeks, try for a month. If you can go a month or more on a tank, you qualify as car-light. Using this system, you can drive whenever you want, but the less you drive, the farther ahead you'll get. This by itself can provide the motivation to find car-free ways of getting around.

I'd also suggest making a fuel log and keeping it in your vehicle. Draw up a chart to record the date, odometer, amount of fuel and price. Keep it in your car. You can later track how often you're filling and you can use the numbers to help you determine your fuel economy.

As far as simply ditching the car, I'm hesitant to recommend that course of action. If you're in an urban area with a lot of services at your disposal and if you seldom leave the city, it might work. But if you're in a rural area, if you leave the city on a regular basis or if you don't have a reliable transit system, taking the car-free plunge will be quite difficult. For now, keep it but use it a lot less. Later, you can evaluate your situation again.

So... any suggestions? Option A seems like it could be a bit of a goer, but I"m sure there is something I've not thought about. Has anyone else tried this approach? Any success stories? Any dismal failures?

Cheers !

Scott

Here's a strange one. Just ride your bike. :D


I ride past my car where it sits in the parking lot every morning and evening. I've driven it once in the past two years. That was to prove to my landlord that it's operable.

Put your car keys on a separate fob and hang it on a hook in the kitchen. No problem.

Lol - your greeting should have twigged me that your location is Southern Hemisphere Aus, and not the landlocked mountainous one :).

FWIW I just go to work sweaty, it doesn't bother me - but I get that others don't feel the same way (I do wear anti-perspirant though :p)

:) Yeah us aussies love pulling that one on foreigners. I've had people convinced at times that the biggest obstacle while skiing to work is missing the kangaroos, and that lederhosen chafe something wicked in the tropics.

Normally I wouldn't care too much about sweating and going to work, however in this job I've got a lot of patient contact and I'd suspect there might be complaints if I smell worse than some of the necrotic leg ulcers I have to dress.


Why not just leave the car parked at your house, but leave the keys at school. Take the keys home on Friday, so you can drive to work.
After you get used to that, you may want to find another way to get to work. It won't hurt to take it step by step though.

Now this is a piece of sheer brilliance :) I'm going to try this ASAP. I agree with all the people that keep saying "just ride!" etc etc, but what I'm looking for are methods that will in the short term encourage me to break out of the car usage cycle and help make bike riding the norm rather than just recreation.


I'd also suggest making a fuel log and keeping it in your vehicle. Draw up a chart to record the date, odometer, amount of fuel and price. Keep it in your car. You can later track how often you're filling and you can use the numbers to help you determine your fuel economy.

This sounds like a good idea too, and its something that I probably should have been doing anyways. I used to live some 30km out of town in an area with no public transport at all and as a result my fuel bills were through the roof. Since then I've moved into the city and I can't remember any of the details of the last time I filled the tank. Its gone from once every 2 days to about once every 2-3 weeks already. Keeping a log and going for a personal best sounds like a great idea :)


Sell the car and buy a scooter or a motorcycle.

If you just want to get around on motor power AND keep your bicycle, get an electric bike / gasoline engine powered bike ...

I've wanted to do this for quite some time and am planning on doing so, though not in the short term. I think if I had a scooter / motorbike I'd actually be more inclined to use it for day to day use than my bicycle as it offers may of the freedoms that bicycles offer, yet in a sweat free package. If I can get myself used to being effective at car-lite, then thats the point I think I'll go the motorbike and try car free.

Plus I've always had a thing for postie bikes :)

http://victor.img.jugem.jp/20051231_100012.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/71/203956281_20d6e09e2c.jpg

It may actually become one of the ultimate green form's of powered transport.... the university of Tasmania has already converted one to hydrogen and I hear is working on a design that could be mass produced.

http://www.fuelcellsworks.com/uoftasmaniafcbike.jpeg

I've got to dismiss the sweat as an issue.

I also work in a hospital, with direct patient contact and very outspoken coworkers. I ride to work and arrive sweaty, but I've never had any complaints aboutmy appearance or odor. I shower just before I leave home and change clothes when I arrive at the hospital.

I got a motorcycle about a year after ditching the car so that I'd have another option when I need recovery or whatever. It got ridden in lieu of the bike more than expected in the beginning, because of the newness factor. However, it isn't much less sweat inducing. A motorcycle is hot as heck in the summer if you are going to wear any protective gear. Might as well get bike sweaty.

So

I've gone and rented a personal storage locker about 6km from my unit along a nice multi use path. Its close to bus stops and a train station for those days of pouring rain. The plan is: Friday afternoon / evening training ride during which I stop to pick up my keys from the locker. Saturday morning I will be able to sleep in as late as I can before having to get up to go to work. On the drive home I can stop at the supermarket for a big weekly shop for groceries then return the car to my house (the supermarket is literally on the road that I drive home on from work). Saturday afternoon training / enjoyment ride I return the keys to the locker for the remainder of the week.

The locker itself was quite cheap and I've got some other items that it would make sense to keep in the insured & secured lock box rather than my contents insurance free rental with one door that won't lock.

I think the idea of a fuel / trip log for the car is a great one and help with working out the financial benefit of making the change. Next step in the medium term I suppose will be to actually go do my motorcycle license test and start pricing an entry level motorbike.

Thanks for the assist and the advice :)

Best wishes

Scott

to say goodbye to gasoline credit cards and road rage, I am jealous. It helps if one lives in the city and can take advantage of city pleasure without a long commute. We live 15 miles away from our favorite cinema; if not for that and Saturday nights; I would not miss a car. For trips we can always go on a train and take our bikes or rent a car if necessary.

Thought I'd add a quick update and share another idea someone gave me earlier today. Has now been 4 days since I drove my car. Things are going well, have survived the first day of wet weather on the bike, am getting used to pre-planning my trips a little better though I'm still getting caught out every now and then. Went to visit my parents last night, they live in a valley about 25km west nor-west of the city centre of the town I live in and there is no public transport at all for the 10km between the last train station and my parents house. Decided to try hitching a lift and only had to wait 2 mins before a helpful driver picked me up and was able to drop me 1km from my destination. Things are going well, just hope I keep it going.

The other idea that was shared with me is something I think I'll try after a couple of weeks getting used to this kinda lifestyle. My friend suggested that instead of leaving the key so far away, why don't I just put it in a jug of water and freeze it overnight. It will keep both the key and the car locally available, but there will still be an inconvenience factor that should kick my ass into gear rather than stuff around trying to get my key out of a 1kg block of ice. (To help this suggestion she reckons I should make sure its in something like an old water bottle so that the ice itself can't be removed from the container nor microwaved or put in an oven to melt it. Given that we are in level 5 water restrictions in my city I'll just figure a way to recycle the water each time and should be good to go.

Cheers :)