by Karen Sandness
Q: Why did you give up your car?
A: It's a long story. I've always been attracted to old-style
architecture and urban layouts, as well as trains and subways, but the
year I spent in Tokyo in the late 1970s was a real turning point. The
urban and interurban transportation system is so complete and so
well-coordinated that no one really needs a car, and I came back from my
stay wondering why the U.S. couldn't have an infrastructure like that.
When I left academia and became a free-lance translator some sixteen years later, I owned a car, but money was tight, and every time I wrote out checks to pay for my auto loan, car insurance, or gasoline credit card, I couldn't help thinking of everything else the money could go for. So I decided that the car had to go.
Q: Just like that?
A: Not exactly. I lived in a transit-friendly
neighborhood with all the necessities within
walking distance, but I wasn't sure that going
car-free was really practical. That's why I
conducted a two-month experiment. Every time I
needed to go somewhere, I first asked myself
whether the trip was feasible by transit,
bicycle, or shoe leather. I treated the car as
the transportation of last resort. At the end of
the two months, I found that I had really needed
the car only twice. So I sold it to a low-cost
rental car agency.
Q: Have you ever regretted selling your car?
A: No, and even though I'm making a reasonably
comfortable income now, I have no interest in
buying another car.
Q: Why not?
I like saving thousands of dollars per year,
being environmentally responsible, incorporating
exercise into my day, and becoming better
acquainted with my city.
Q: Isn't it inconvenient not owning a car?
A: What do you mean?
Q: Well, how do you go grocery shopping?
A: I live three blocks in either direction from
two full-service supermarkets, so I walk. But I
know that you're really wondering how I handle
those once-a-month shopping trips where people
load up their cars with hundreds of dollars
worth of groceries. The answer is that I don't.
After all, no one really goes grocery shopping
only once a month. If nothing else, your milk
and fresh fruits and vegetables will rot long
before a month has passed. I simply buy
everything on an as-needed basis.
Q: You can't go to big box discount stores.
A: With the money I save by being car-free, I
don't need to.
Q: What if you need to buy furniture or appliances?
A: I buy large items from businesses that offer
free delivery. Besides, even when I did have a car, I didn't lug my new living room
set home in the back seat. When I
recently bought a new desktop computer, I just
took a cab home from the computer store.
Q: Don't you ever get the urge to go for a drive
in the country?
A: Ever since childhood, I've thought that just
driving around with no destination in mind is
the epitome of a pointless activity. I go for
walks or bike rides in the city instead.
Even if you do like your drive in the country, though, that's not something you do every day. Just rent a car.
Q: What if you wanted to go for a hike in the
mountains or for a weekend on the coast?
A: I don't think of either of these as solo
activities, and I'm not an absolutist. I do ride
in other people's cars if there's no other way
to get somewhere.
Q: But driving saves so much time.
A: Does it always? I can't tell you the number
of occasions I've arrived on time for a lunch or
dinner appointment only to have the other person
arrive up to a half hour late because of getting
stuck in traffic or not being able to find a
parking place. I've learned to bring a book to
all such encounters. Yes, buses and trains
sometimes fail to show up, but cars and traffic
conditions can be just as undependable, and in
city traffic, bicycles and feet often get around
faster than cars.
Don't think of cycling or walking as a waste of time. Think of them as ways to combine transportation, exercise, and play. Don't think of riding a bus or train as a waste of time. Think of it as time to read, catch up on sleep, knit, play solitaire on your laptop, or whatever else you can't do while driving.
Q: I couldn't do everything I do now if I didn't
have a car.
A: All these things that you do--are they really
what you want to do, or are they forced on you
by your car-centered lifestyle? Say you live in
a suburb on the west side of the city, work in a
suburb on the eastern edge of the city, have a
spouse who works in a suburb on the northern
side of the city, and shop and participate in
activities throughout the metropolitan area.
If you hadn't been taught you "ought" to drive
everywhere, you wouldn't live like that in the
first place. You'd live close to one of the
jobs, and on a transit line to the other. You'd
shop and educate your children and amuse
yourself either in your neighborhood or in
places accessible by bicycle or transit.
There are times when I can't do something because it takes place at a location that's accessible only by car, but I've never felt that I've missed anything absolutely essential to my happiness.
Q: Aren't you afraid to ride public transit at
night?
A: Don't ask me about dangers; ask your local
police department. Ask them how many people were
killed in or by cars last year and how many
people were killed or even injured while riding
or waiting for public transit. I've taken
transit at night for nearly eight years, and
while I've seen things that disgusted or
saddened me, I've never been in any danger.
Q: But I remember when someone was murdered at a
light rail station....
A: ...About six years ago. Seriously, it seems
to me that cars get a free pass in the United
States. One murder at a transit station sticks
in the public's memory for years--or gets
exaggerated into urban folklore about ax
murderers lurking in every shadow, while the
dozens of traffic deaths that occur every month
pass unnoticed except by the families of the
victims. When five people were struck by trains on Portland's new light
rail line in 1998, mostly because they crossed the tracks without looking, it made the front
page of the Wall Street Journal, but no one noted the immensely higher number of car-related
deaths during the same period. One delayed bus or rude driver will
cause a person to swear off public transit
forever, but years of daily traffic jams and
road rage are considered an "inevitable" part
of life. I can't promise that nothing bad will
ever happen to you if you go car-free, but I can
guarantee that something bad will happen to you
in your life as a driver.
Q: What about rainy, snowy, or bitterly cold
weather?
A: At least I don't have to drive in it! If
it's too wet or cold to walk, bike, or take
transit, it's too wet or cold to drive, too.
As a former Minnesotan, I remember trying to drive home in a blizzard,
leaning out the window to see where I was going because the windshield was frosted over and at
the same time trying to keep from sliding off the road.
When I lived in Minneapolis, I used to consider anything above 10 degrees below zero Fahrenheit warm enough for walking. I simply dressed appropriately.
Waiting for a bus in that kind of weather was unpleasant, but at least when the bus came along, it was preheated. It was actually more comfortable than starting up a cold car and having to drive several miles in teeth-chattering, digit-freezing misery before the heater had any effect.
Q: You couldn't be car-free if you had children.
A: People all over the world and even in this
country rear children without cars. My
observations suggest that children enjoy
alternative forms of transport. I've seen them
happily striking up conversations with other bus
passengers, secure in the knowledge that Mom or
Dad is close by. I've seen them protest when
their parents tell them that it's time to get
off the train and see the zoo or the movie.
Think back to your own childhood. Which would you have enjoyed more, being strapped into a confining chair in the back seat of a car with a crabby parent up front, or walking along leisurely, holding your parent's hand?
Children can even be part of the solution to your grocery hauling problems. The classic little red wagon is an excellent means of transporting groceries, and your children may even quarrel over the privilege of pulling it, as my brothers did when they were small.
Above all, think of the time you can save when your children are old enough (middle to late elementary school age) to take themselves to after-school activities or friends' homes by bicycle or transit. Again, ask your local police about the likelihood of their being kidnapped or molested on the way.
Q: But I'd have to live in the city if I went
car-free, and the city is full of crime and
drugs.
A: I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and
assume that you really mean "crime and drugs"
instead of "racial and ethnic groups that I
don't like." Okay, some of you are
third-generation suburbanites. You've spent your
entire lives in the "edge cities," and you've
seen the real city only on sensationalized TV
newscasts, on TV police dramas, or distantly
from the window of a car speeding down the
freeway.
You should be able to find acceptable neighborhoods and schools in almost any North American city. And if you think that the suburbs are free of crime and drugs, boy are you living in a fantasy world!
Q: I have to live in one of the edge cities or
exurbs, because housing prices are too high
close to the city.
A: Ask yourself why you need to buy a house, or
why you need to buy a large house. For your
children? A fat lot of good a big house does
them if you're away from home an extra two to
four hours per day because of your highway
commute, and then come home a nervous wreck. As
an investment? There are other things to invest
in. Take an honest look at your own personality
and lifestyle and at the cost of rent versus the
cost of house payments, property taxes,
association fees for condominium owners, home
repairs, and the need to maintain a fleet of
vehicles. You may find that the vaunted tax
advantages don't begin to compensate for the
extra expenses.
You might also ask yourself why it costs more to live in the city. Could it be because you get what you pay for there? Suburbs are discounted because they're incovenient places to live in.
People sometimes tell me that an apartment like mine would rent for $150 less in the suburbs, but I'd have to spend at least that much per month on a car, and I'd miss all my favorite stores, hangouts, and colorful neighborhood characters.
Q: But all my friends live in big suburban
houses and drive SUVs!
A: The biggest advantage to being an adult
instead of a teenager is that you no longer have
to do what "all your friends" do.
Q: You've made some good points, but for various
reasons, I just can't go car-free.
A: Then become a more mindful driver. Before you
get into your car, ask if this trip is at all
feasible by some other means of
transportation--transit, bicycle, or feet. Look
at your environment, and notice its built-in
prejudices against non-automotive
transportation. Then take a test walk and look
at all you've been missing in your own
neighborhood while you've been staring at the
inside of windshield every day. You may find
your attitudes changing.
