Originally Posted by
bragi
Robert, just accept the car-ownership definition of car free; it's the most sensible, easily defined, and widely accepted one out there.
Sorry, but someone who always (or even spends the majority of their trips) using a "car" to make their trips isn't "car free" even if they don't own a car. I suggest one looks at some of the available data (ACS and NHTS as examples) of significant numbers of people in cities like New York, Boston, and Chicago who don't own a car, yet use cabs, car services, etc... for all (or most) of their trips... Hardly car free...
Taxi's and car services are essentially cars with drivers... Unlike public transportation, these vehicles do not require the sharing of the vehicle. Hence the only difference between using a privately owned car and one of these is the requirement that one pays for a chauffeur instead of the car itself...
Originally Posted by
bragi
Anyone who gives up owning a car is automatically going to use feet, bikes and public transportation for virtually all of their travel.
Completely wrong. See previous references for actual data to demonstrate how and why this statement is false.