patc

Hi kids. I have an anti-car rant on my web site which, honestly, needs some tweaking. I want to include a list of reasons why people "can't" be car-free, and provide simple answers. Any suggestions to add to this list?

1. I need it to get to work.
2. Cycling/transit takes too long.
3. I need to do groceries/shopping
4. I live several blocks from the store
5. The bus stop is several blocks away
6. I don't have time
7. Its too inconvenient
8. I don't want to look like a freak
9. I don't want to lose my freedom.

ctxcrossx

10. The weather gets too cold/hot/rainy/etc.

thelung

The majority of those arguments are just excuses, if someone is lazy, they will always find another excuse not to be car free.

1. I need it to get to work. - Your bike will get you there too, plus you get exercise.
2. Cycling/transit takes too long. - It very rarely takes as long as you think. Give it a try once and see for yourself. It may take longer but it is also much more enjoyable.
3. I need to do groceries/shopping - A rear rack can hold quite a bit of groceries, so can messenger bags.
4. I live several blocks from the store -You will be there in no time, its great for your body and the environment.
5. The bus stop is several blocks away Leave a little earlier or ride a bike to the bus stop.
6. I don't have time- We can always make time for things that are important to us. How much TV do you watch every night?
7. Its too inconvenient- It is not as inconvenient as getting gas, paying car insurance, tune-ups, hunting for parking spaces, waiting in traffic jams, etc.
8. I don't want to look like a freak- If the person who says this is from the US: You live in the fattest country in the world. If being active makes someone look like a freak, then maybe it is not a bad thing.
9. I don't want to lose my freedom.- You are much more free when you provide your own transportation power than when you are completely dependent on gasoline.
10. The weather gets too cold/hot/rainy/etc.- Too cold or rainy- The quality of current winter gear and rain shells will ensure you stay warm, dry, and comfortable. They can be fairly expensive but nothing compared to the hidden costs of a car. Too Hot- Cycling shorts and jerseys are designed to keep you cool and dry in hot weather and they work really well. Stay hydrated and carry a change of clothes for when you get to work or whatever your destination is. If your office has a shower facility, you can just shower when you get to work instead of when you wake up.


Wear high-vis clothing, have bright lights, and take the full lane. 8-10 miles each way is not bad, especially if you have a nice bike. It will require some effort, but so does almost everything that is worth doing. Also, you can try taking the public transport part of the way, and just stick your bike on the bus, if that is available in your area.

thelung

Arguments I see for a person who lives in a city or town to not be car free:

having young children
having to care for elderly
being handicapped
having a job that requires transport of large objects.

Even in these situations, there is no reason for someone to drive all the time if efficient public transit is available.

zelah

shut up lung driving is cool

BenyBen

Those are some of the reasons I heard.

-I'm not in good enough shape to do it.
-I don't have a shower at work.
-I don't have a bike
-I just got this car
-Getting to work isn't supposed to be fun (yup, I heard that one)
-It's dangerous out there.
-My bike has a flat and I never have the time to bring it to the shop.
-What if I get a flat or mechanical failure on the way. I wouldn't know what to do.

thelung

Dont ban this guy, hes car free in virginia beach and just being weird.

Ashen

I am without a car right now, but the most likely reason I will get another one at some point is that I like doing outdoor stuff that really isn't practical on the bike. If I want to go snowboarding, it's probably going to take a car to get there. Same goes for a lot of great hikes in my area.

humancongereel

hitch hike. fun, and you meet interesting people, and it's sort of like car pooling, so you don't need to feel bad about getting in a dirty damn car.

thelung

That is a good point. It can be hard to get out to nice natural places. Around here its pretty easy to catch a bus leaving from one of the ski or snowboard shops to the different mountains if you can fit it into your schedule. If not, you can always rent a car for a few days each month. Still it is not a perfect solution by any means.

wfin2004

50 miles one way to work, and that is the interstate. It would be about 75 miles on state roads. That is NOT an excuse, it is the reason I drive my 4 cylinder car. I would like anyone here to honestly say they would enjoy a 150 round trip bike ride to work each day................................I am waiting........... ....

thelung

I would never suggest biking that far, but I would also never get a job that far from my home without relocating. You can still use public transit if it is available, or just use a bike for all your local activities and continue driving (or carpooling!) to work. I don't think any of us are claiming that carfree living can be fit into all current lifestyles. It could be quite a lifestyle changing descision depending on how you currently live.


When you present yourself as a vehicle, the vast majority of drivers will treat you like one, even if they may grumble about you slowing them down for 5 seconds.

I cannot get anywhere in Virginia Beach without riding on Virginia Beach Boulevard, and other highspeed roads. It is 45mph but traffic regularly does 50+, and there is no shoulder, just a curb. I make myself visible, take the right lane and signal my turns. I have had very few close calls and have never been hit. Tehz is carfree here too and has also ridden countless times on this road without being hit.

Roody

Your sarcasm is totally unwarranted. Thousands, no millions, of people in this real world ride bikes in these circumstances and ENJOY it. But they aren't conservative whiners.

CommuterRun

Good, bad or indifferent, this and living in a rural area is exactly why it's just not practical for me to be completely car-free, as much as I would like to be. If I were single with no kids it would be a different story, but I figure one car for a family of four and riding to work most of the time is really doing fairly well.


This is exactly how I ride except for the bus. Bright Primal Wear jerseys, lights, lane position on rural highways with 45-60 MPH speed limits. Two highways on any of my routes have BLs. The closest BL is three miles away, the other five. Neither are on my most ridden route which is to work and back, unless I go the long way or the real looong way. None of these other highways have any kind of paved shoulder.

The bright jersey, lights and lane position thing works, even on roads with speed limits up to 60 and I don't have to take the lane all the time. Only at major intersections and on blind curves.

See my post covering how awesome last Friday's commute home was over in "Commuting" under "How was the Commute Today?"

MAD Rider

Something that Bicycle Colorado put up in regards to the same kind of complaints and responses to go along with them

https://bicyclecolo.org/site/page.cfm?PageID=250

budster

Are you talking about 15-501? 54? 86? Regardless, I don't blame you one bit.

In fact, I don't blame anyone one bit. Anyone who does anything to reduce car use is making a positive contribution. Guilt-tripping folks for not doing it perfectly seems counter productive.

cooker

Another reason for not being totally car free:
"My wife/husband/partner/lover needs/wants us to own a car".
R

RoperIN

Excellent forum.

I do almost everything by bicycle. I have one car. I use it for one thing only: My children visit their mother (my former spouse) who lives in another city. She refuses to provide transportation, so every other weekend, I take them to visit her.

When they're old enough to make the trip by bicycle (or drive on their own), we'll sell the car.

I'm just not up to pulling the Burley for three hours each way when the weather's this cold...

Ashen

Yeah, its just that renting a car a few days each month is probably more expensive than minimally insuring a beater car I can pay cash for.

Chris L

I can't say I'd enjoy a car commute of that distance any more than I'd enjoy the ride.

I think we've all ignored the most common reason for "I can't be car free", and indeed it's usually the real reason when most of the above examples are given:

"I just don't want to".

thelung

None of us live in an ideal dreamland where being car free is always easy. Either you are willing to try and make it work, or you're not. It's that simple. If youre not willing to make changes so it works, you need to admit it. Don't pretend that you have it any harder than the rest of us do because no one is forcing you to drive except yourself.

budster

Formerly Chapel Hill. Currently Statesville.

Actually, it's not that bad, and surprisingly bike-friendly. I grew up here, so it's comfy. If not for non-driving elderly mom, I could live completely car-free in town.

I'm looking for a job right now, preferably in the Triangle -- but NY/NJ is looking more likely. Which is cool, too.

I have family in Durham (Bahama, actually, if you know where that is) and friends in Chapel Hill.

I lived in Chapel Hill from '85-'93 and again this summer. The roads are considerably more dangerous now. I rode a couple of my favorite old rides this summer. Old 86 up to Dairyland, et cet. Used to be practically empty. Honk, honk, honk now. Ditto Mt Carmel down to Jordan Lake. Buzzed repeatedly, even with all my best VC tricks. Sad. I did find the increased congestion in downtown CH/Carrboro has made commuter biking there even better than before.

Do you ride mostly recreationally?

Erwin would be a fine bike commuter road -- if they'd widen it. Chapel Hill and Durham both seem to be trumpeting their pursuit of bike lanes/bike paths, which could be OK, if they would build a comprehensive network. Coordinating with each other would be good, too. One gets the distinct impression that they're just giving lip service (but we shall see).

As things stand, there are just enough well-publicized bike trails and lanes for motorists to believe bikes don't belong in regular traffic, but not nearly enough to facilitate a safe car-free lifestyle. I do think for someone with housing in CH/Carrboro near a job that doesn't require much travel, car-free could work.

Stay safe....

Mtn Mike

1. "I''m too out of shape" or "I'm too fat"
2. "It's too dangerous"

those are my two favorites

Machka 

I was completely car free for 6 years ... but then I lived in the same part of town as the place where I worked (my commute was 6.7 kms one way), and I could do all my grocery shopping and attend to all my business right in the area where I lived. The transit system was also pretty good - I could get where I wanted to go in no time at all either by bicycle, by walking, or by bus. So, under those circumstances, having a car was a pointless waste of money.

I have since moved, and am living where I am now for financial reasons. During this past winter, I got a fairly well-paying job just over 30 kms one way from where I live. It would have been virtually impossible for me to do that 65 km round trip in temperatures well below freezing, on very icy and snow covered, busy roads during the months of February, March, and April. So I drove. During the warmer months, I cycled anywhere from 1-3 times a week, but did not do more than that because that sort of distance didn't fit with my training plan. I needed rest days, and shorter days. So I drove on those days.

And NO I could not have moved closer to where I got my job ... there's no housing out there .... they build chemical plants out in the middle of absolutely nowhere for a reason! And as for finding another job in the city where I live ... maybe, but I would not have been paid anywhere near what I was out there.

I am currently attending University within the town where I live (which is why I moved here). I wanted to commute by transit or bicycle, but checked those options. By transit, I would cover the 6 kms to the school in roughly 45 minutes to an hour, one way. The transit system is NOT good here. As a student, that 1.5 hours (minimum) is very valuable time which I could use for sleeping or studying or working. So I checked on the bicycle option ... and they don't have secure storage for bicycles. This town is known for its bicycle theft, and I would really rather not leave my bicycle casually locked to a rack everyone has access to. I find it quite disturbing actually that universities don't provide better security for their bicycle-riding students but that is an other issue all together. So I drive to school.

In addition to that, my job has me at work completely on the other side of town from 4-midnight on Friday nights. You'd better believe I drive! There's no way I'm leaving work at midnight on a Friday night in this town and cycling the 10-15 kms home ... especially considering the fact that I have to be back at work at 8 am Saturday morning.

So ... before you get too anti-car ... there are circumstances where people do need to drive.

1. I need it to get to work. -- yes, as a matter of fact I do
2. Cycling/transit takes too long. -- yes, as a matter of fact, it does
3. I need to do groceries/shopping. -- this has never been an issue and still isn't. Getting groceries without a car is easy.
4. I live several blocks from the store. -- again, not a problem. A person can WALK several blocks.
5. The bus stop is several blocks away. -- again, not a problem. A person can WALK several blocks.
6. I don't have time. -- Even commuting can be part of training. If I weren't commuting, I'd be riding in some other way.
7. Its too inconvenient. -- Well, yes, right now it is, but hopefully at some point that will change
8. I don't want to look like a freak. -- I've never heard that one!
9. I don't want to lose my freedom. -- you're freer on a bicycle than in a car
10. The weather gets too cold/hot/rainy/etc. -- generally that excuse is nonsense, BUT when the road is covered in ice and snow, and the temperature is well below freezing, and especially if the commute is long and part of it might be in the dark, weather can be a valid excuse not to ride based on safety.

Toasted

HERE! And that is the god's honest truth. Just another chance to be on my bike more and eat LOTS of good food.