Living Car Free - Are you currently car-light, car-free, or neither?

Taking a poll in effort to get an idea of the distribution in the forum.

I technically own a car... it needs a radiator and has been parked in a friend's yard ever since I bought it about 4 months ago.

None of the above?

I drive 42,000 miles a year on average; 3-5,000 of those are mine, the rest are job related. Sometimes I can go 2-3 weeks between fillups other times I may fill up 3 times in one day:eek: BTW based on MY annual mileage I would be filling up the beast about once every 6 weeks or so.

Aaron:)

hello all;
we own a car and a minivan though the car hardly ever moves. i don't have any plans to sell it simply because i need it on occasion. it's the same deal with the minivan. while my spouse uses the minivan for school drop-off and pick-up that's pretty much it. i see no great sin in having a car, it's just a tool after all. the problem is in over reliance. much like tv, using it when you don't need to makes you slothful and wastes resources. i'd rather ride a bike for transportation and read a book for entertainment, there are times though when you cant do what you'd rather.

I've been car-free since 2003. And I don't plan on buying a car in the future. Friends and family tell me that I need a car. So I ask them what for. They give me stupid reasons. I'm not married, nor do I have kids. I can commute and do errands on my trusty 'cross bike. :thumb:

Moving into my new place this week. Car will be sold in less than a month.

I went car-light in late 2003 or early 2004. For my personal in-town commitments, I prefer to walk or cycle. I use my car for work and for out-of-town events and errands.

I've been car-lite for many years now. I've driven maybe two hundred miles this year so far, but I've rode as a passenger for a thousand miles more. This year, I'm on track to put in two and a half to three thousand miles on the bike, down from three and a half to four thousand from previous years.

I probably should not have voted. I'm car-light, but I still fill up once a week.

I'm haven't quite figured out how it works that I'm car-light, my wife is not, but I'm the one who puts gas in the car. It works out though, as long as she keeps the house and yard up, including the mowing. :)

However, we are car-light for a family of four, owning only one car.

In terms of car ownership I've been car-free for all my life. That's the poll option I chose.

But I'm not "car-free" in the sense of being totally independent from cars. I guess very few people are. I rent a car several times per year, I get a taxi when needed, I take the bus quite often. Not to mention how the food I eat is delivered to the grocery store. In that sense I consider myself car-light.

--J

I thought car-light was when you didn't own a car, but you had access to one you could use. For example, I don't own a car, but my wife does.

I thought car-light was when you didn't own a car, but you had access to one you could use. For example, I don't own a car, but my wife does.

JeffS,
FWIW I consider car free to be; not owning a motor vehicle, but still using/riding one on occasion. I consider car light to be; anybody that uses one substantially less than the average US mileage of say 12-15k miles a year.

JMHO:rolleyes:

Aaron:)

Just a motorcycle and a slew of bikes for me :D Motorcycle gets used rarely and only for long distances where biking isn't practical

100% bikes and buses since 2003. :winter2:

Both my fiancee and I qualify as car-lite, if you're defining that as driving significantly less than the 12-15K yearly average like wahoonc suggested.

I commute by bike 4 days a week, and I run most of our errands by bike. Unless I'm going camping or climbing, I don't usually drive on the weekends.
The Girl is car-dependant due to her mobility impairment, but her round-trip to work only has her driving 2400 miles/year. Including additional driving last year, she put under 4000 miles on her car. Combined last year we drove under 6500 miles.

If the stupid HOA would allow Microsoft to put in a park-and-ride lot for their employee bus/shuttles, then even more people in our neighbourhood would be able to go car-lite by taking the bus to work. Unfortunately, the closest stop for The Connector is just as far away (the opposite direction from work) as The Girl drives to her office.

Fully retired ( I do feel sorry for the working stiffs that gotta drive :() and very car lite.
We only drive our long ago paid for vehicles to the city for supplies and doctors appointments.

JeffS,
FWIW I consider car free to be; not owning a motor vehicle, but still using/riding one on occasion. I consider car light to be; anybody that uses one substantially less than the average US mileage of say 12-15k miles a year.

JMHO:rolleyes:

Aaron:)


According to that definition, I've been car-light all my life. The most I've driven/ridden a car has been six thousand miles in a year.

JeffS,
FWIW I consider car free to be; not owning a motor vehicle, but still using/riding one on occasion. I consider car light to be; anybody that uses one substantially less than the average US mileage of say 12-15k miles a year.

JMHO:rolleyes:

Aaron:)

COOL. I like that definition. That not only means that my wife is car-light, even though she never uses a bike for utilitarian purposes, it also means I have always been car-light. I don't think I've ever put more than 10,000 miles a year on a car. :D

I'm car light myself in that we own what is effectively my wife's car.

COOL. I like that definition. That not only means that my wife is car-light, even though she never uses a bike for utilitarian purposes, it also means I have always been car-light. I don't think I've ever put more than 10,000 miles a year on a car. :D

The key word was substantially ;) I have been car free in the past and would love to be again, but currently the job situation won't support it. But I can keep looking, dreaming and hoping:thumb: and drive as little as possible when I have the option. When I can I use Amtrak for traveling back and forth from my job site to my home. Earlier this year I made over 15 round trips by train, that is good for reducing my driving by about 6,000 miles if I had made those trips by driving. Unfortunately Amtrak has pretty poor coverage outside of a few choice corridors.:notamused:

Aaron:)

i'm car free, but get rides from friends with cars. so what would that be?

Personal definition of car light is that the car is owned but is also the absolute last transportation alternative chosen at a given time. Used only when load carried, distance traveled within a certain amount of time, etc. necessitates the car's use.

Side question to the above poll: Is anyone else here doing car-light while still having an enthusiastic interest in cars (motorcycles/trucks)? I've always gotten the feeling that this forum isn't populated only with rabid car haters, but was never sure what the proportions were.

Personal definition of car light is that the car is owned but is also the absolute last transportation alternative chosen at a given time. Used only when load carried, distance traveled within a certain amount of time, etc. necessitates the car's use.

Side question to the above poll: Is anyone else here doing car-light while still having an enthusiastic interest in cars (motorcycles/trucks)? I've always gotten the feeling that this forum isn't populated only with rabid car haters, but was never sure what the proportions were.

I still enjoy custom cars...we have a full blown custom 57 Chevy BelAir Coupe street rod. Take it shows occasionally. We have a couple of trucks that we use on our semi-active farm and I have my work truck. But I still ride my bike to the grocery store 1.5 miles up the road, on a 15-20 mile loop to hit all the farm front produce stands. I ride to church some Sundays 1-12 miles depending on which one. Ride to my parents house about once a month 40 mile round trip. To me cars and trucks are a tool and should be used accordingly. I don't install screws with a hammer and driving nails sucks with a screw driver. To me cars and trucks are used for trips where the load exceeds the bicycle's capabilities or the distances and the number of people involved requires other choices. We make one official trip into town about once a month, usually 3 or 4 people will be involved and we make a round robin of all the places we need to go. If someone has to make a trip in for a doctor's appointment or some other compelling reason we check with the rest of the onsite family to see if anybody needs anything picked up while in town.

My work keeps me on the road and out of town, but that doesn't mean I don't take a bike with me for the short haul trips. I was in Lafayette, IN a few weeks ago and was able to commute from the hotel to the job site by bike, it was a whopping 4.5 miles one way:p However that is the exception, most of the time the motels are in an area that is non commutable or too far away from the job site(s). I also attempt to utilize local mass transit as much as possible. Current job site allows me to take Amtrak back forth on weekends, but that will soon come to an end. It saved me over 6,000 miles of windshield time so far this year.:thumb:

Aaron:)

I'm car free according to this poll's definition because I don't own a car, truck, etc. In the last year I've driven 25 feet (to move my Significant Other's car from one parking spot to another).

My situation is fairly common. I'd be happily car free if I were living alone, and that was indeed the case for a couple of years. However, I am in a relationship with a partner who owns and uses a car. Both of us have made compromises. We could run the household on bike power alone if we had to. SO was formerly car heavy, sometimes driving 60 miles round trip to pick up a few groceries. Now her car sometimes goes a week or more without moving, so obviously SO has done some compromising as well!

For me, car free living isn't primarily an ethical imperative. I think of it as a lifestyle experiment. Going into an oil-impaired future, it will be much more important to know how to live car light or car free.

I'm not sure my situation fits any of them.... I have to commute 16 miles each way, a lot of days I will drive 10 miles, park, and ride my bike the other 6 miles. Sometimes I drive my motorcycle, it gets 65 mpg.... I wish I lived closer to work, I wouldnt own a car.... Maybe a 2 wheel drive truck for loads of gravel and bark.

I still own a car, but it's got a flat tire and spiderwebs on all four wheels. I need to get the stickers current so I can sell it. My girlfriend has a car that we occassionally drive, but most of our groceries come home in panniers. She's trying to transition to driving only two days a week this semester, but I do have it a bit easier (one job, no school, eleven miles round trip).

Side question to the above poll: Is anyone else here doing car-light while still having an enthusiastic interest in cars (motorcycles/trucks)?

I used to do a lot of 4-wheeling back in the midwest, but I haven't done any since moving out here. Not for lack of terrain, mind you... I just can't justify spending the money on gasoline for purely recreational purposes right now.

I'm car lite but I also have a Vespa. If I drive I usually choose the Vespa. I only drive the truck when I have to haul something, usually, ironically a bicycle.

I'm car lite but I also have a Vespa. If I drive I usually choose the Vespa. I only drive the truck when I have to haul something, usually, ironically a bicycle.

I usually feel guilty enough about hauling a bicycle anywhere that I'll make a point of hauling two, preferably for different types of riding (road/mtb or road/fixie) and make a day of it, doing more than one style of riding. Makes for a wonderful Sunday.

This discovery is what's finally gotten me semi-seriously interested in mountain biking after two previous failed attempts. I realized that my biggest negative with mountain biking was the realization that I'd need to drive 20-30 miles to go ride a bicycle.

This attitude isn't environmental or anything like that, it's pride. In all my years motorcycle riding, I've never trailer anywhere unless it's for repairs to hauling an antique bike to a show more than 50 miles away. I loathe bikers who trailer.

i'm sort of car free - don't own one, or have a driver's license. but my partner owns a small car driven a few times a week. and i get rides a few times a week to work from friends, so i'm certainly riding in them more than i'd like to.

i try to limit the amount of rides i get, especially to bike rides. i've ridden 38 miles to a 150-mile ride, then 38 miles back. partially because i like to ride, lots; and also to prove that these rides can be done without a car. to show people that if you just have a lot of patience, and a little extra energy, you can ride to that ride. clifton knows what i'm talkin bout!

while i'm not trying to guilt-trip anyone who drove to said rides, or any rides, it does feel damn good to see all those cars carrying bikes pass! especially when you pass some of them later on the ride..

as a side note i do have an environmental motivation for not owning a car, and it's also not due to lack of funds. i also don't like how violent the wrecks are from cars/motorcycles are (not that anyone does) - after being in a 50 mph wreck a decade ago, i haven't viewed them the same. just this weekend i saw the aftermath of a motorcycle wreck out on a country road... not a pretty scene. in a truly car-free world, we'd at least have a little less violence/death, i think.

Right this minute ... neither. And neither will continue for a while.

However, in the recent past I was car-free for 7 years.

i'm car free, but get rides from friends with cars. so what would that be?

As far as I'm concerned, if you don't own a car, and you don't bum rides from people on a regular basis, you're easily car-free. Being utterly car-free, as in never setting foot in a motor vehicle, is possible in North America, but only if you're a fanatic with no family or social life.

my family thinks im a loser, cos i dont want a car. they are effin clueless. i dont even want to explain, **** them.

It takes a while for people to understand why someone would choose to go car-free or car-light, especially if you're in a part of the world where car culture is huge. Hang in there. Eventually they'll begin to understand or at least accept your choices.

i try to limit the amount of rides i get, especially to bike rides. i've ridden 38 miles to a 150-mile ride, then 38 miles back. partially because i like to ride, lots; and also to prove that these rides can be done without a car. to show people that if you just have a lot of patience, and a little extra energy, you can ride to that ride. clifton knows what i'm talkin bout!.

I certainly do. I'm just not up to an 80 mile r/t commute to a 150 mile ride quite yet! I did ride 25 miles r/t including 3 big hills (about 1200' gain total) to do a 40 mile hill ride with 3500' of gain, so I'm getting there.

I hope I'll have something left in me to make it back up the ridge after the Mountain Populaire in a couple weeks. :eek:

I live car light but fill up maybe once every three weeks. I ride my bike as many places as I can.

In the small town where I live there are rednecks everywhere.

If you don't have a "bossman gut" hangin over a big belt buckle and drive a big monster 4X4 then you're just "Nuthin... heh".

Not only has traffic increased around here, the rednecks in their pickups are back to jammin the gas at every green light to get their loud exhausts roaring like nascar again. Country music blaring...pfffft.. makes me sick.

I have never had a license to drive just a couple of learners permits that I never converted. Although I ride in a vehicle maybe once a week or the bus. With the bike rack on the bus my range is greatly increased. Oh ya I'm 51 and ride year round.