I went car free for five years, and it worked very well for me. I live in a city with a culture that's pretty tolerant of bicyclists and that has a well-meaning, if somewhat inept, bicycle infrastructure, and I hardly ever missed having a car. Then, last year, for reasons I don't quite understand, I bought one of the infernal machines. After 12 months of car ownership, I now realize it was a silly idea; in the last four months, I've driven my car maybe three times, so I've decided to sell it. Why own, insure and maintain a machine you hardly ever use?

The thing is, I DO, on very rare occasions, need to use a car, to haul heavy things like sails and outboard motors and furniture, or to take loved ones places. Yeah, sure, I could haul a boat motor with a bike trailer, I've done it before, but, honestly, it's just way easier to use a car or truck on occasion, so I've decided to subscribe to a car-sharing service. For the number of times that I actually use a car, the service would cost far less per month than what I currently pay for auto insurance alone, and I would be able to rid myself of the hassle of car ownership while still enjoying the use of a car's cargo-or-grandma carrying capacity when it's needed.

So here's my question: If you don't actually own a car, but still use one occasionally, are you car-free?