How hard would it be to give up the car

stompin-sarah

ive only been driving since october 08 and i think i would be lost without it now

greenbee

try www.walkit.com

neet87

Does anyone else think that public transport is too expensive for what you get? To visit my OHs parents it would cost us £16 a go and takes 1.45hrs, we do this journey at least once a week so every year it would cost us £832.

Instead we run a diesel car: the journey takes us 1/2hr, insurance £400pa, tax £120 (going down to £90 if labour implement tax changes), and £300 servicing/MOT fees a year totalling at £820. Obviously you need to add diesel costs but we feel that it’s worth it in timed saved alone, and we use the car for shopping and other social things too.

To summarise, it would be a bit more economical to stop using the car BUT not a big enough saving to make adding up to 1.15hrs on journeys worth it! Also having elderly Grand parents living in a small country village would make me worry about giving up the car in case of emergencies.

Volcano

neet87 wrote: »

Obviously you need to add diesel costs....

Which (for example) could be 12,000 miles at 45mpg x .95p litre = approx £1100 + depreciation (maybe the same?) plus your aforementioned costs could see you nudging £3000 per year........

If you are able to give up your car that's great, but I don't think that anyone needs to feel guilty or justify not giving it up if they can't/won't.

shirlgirl2004

I'd love to give up my car but we live 2 miles from my DDs school. She's not yet 4 1/2 and has to be at school by 8.30. I guess I'd probably have to leave home by 7.30 to get there in time. I will cycle in summer as I have a trailer for my bike. Unfortunately the cycle path I take is covered in mud, from the fields, during the winter. I won't cycle on the roads with children in the trailer as I wouldn't feel safe even though it would be a slightly shorter journey.

The OH gave up his car in September 08. It causes a few challenges and sacrifices have to be made. For example today I had to go to a town about 15 miles away (for work). At the same time the OH wanted to take DD ice skating. Simply it couldn't be done. He would not have had time after her swimming lesson to get home, leave me the car and then cycle to town before the skating had almost finished. Given it's £13 to skate it isn't worth going for 1/2 an hour. It is something we have to accept.

I'd be interested in the OP keeping a diary to let us know how she gets on and obviously for motivation if she's game!

vatic

I sold my car 3.5 years ago and it's been fairly easy because of the availability of public transport in my area. It's not brilliant but it's good enough for me to get by on. My partner's got a car so we use that to go visit friends once a month and to do the weekly shop. Although, I am starting to get the itch to buy a car again for career reasons.

I'm an all-weather cyclist, but since September I've become a trainee teacher, and I've really struggled getting everything I need for the school day to and from school. This includes textbooks, a large ring binder with lesson plans, resources, my lunch + water bottle, small towel, snacks, change of smart clothes, deodorant, a class' worth of exercise books (sometimes more than that if I get swamped)... It's getting to the point that taking my large backpack + carrier bags aren't cutting it anymore. Plus, it kills my back sometimes riding 5 miles home after a long day.

Those of you talking about panniers... which ones did you buy and which would you recommend? How much should I expect to pay for nice ones? I really need some big ones, and if I don't end up getting any, I'll end up cycling much, much less over these next few months. Thanks for any input!

margaretclare

How hard would it be?.....quite hard.

We have free bus passes but we also have difficulty walking to the top of the road and standing around waiting for buses. DH is on crutches at the moment and can only get out at all by getting into the driver's side of the car - can't get into the passenger side. Depending on the result of his upcoming surgery in February, we may need to change the car for something a bit bigger or one with seats that slide back further, allowing for his stiff leg.

We can do grocery shopping online but now and again it's nice to go out - we go to Waitrose where they're very helpful and there are motorised scooters in which DH can go round the store.

Fire_Fox

It's very much a personal choice, and certainly individual circumstances must play a role. I think we should remember that in the not-too-distant past nobody had a car, and only the better off had a horse and cart/ carriage. In many parts of the world this is still the case.

I have never driven, and have chosen where to live on the back of this. Even when I lived in a village I chose one with a reasonable bus and train service ten minutes away. Now I live in a city centre so transport is, quite literally, on my doorstep! But public transport needs to be cheaper to make it a desirable option.

shirlgirl2004

Fire_Fox wrote: »

It's very much a personal choice, and certainly individual circumstances must play a role. I think we should remember that in the not-too-distant past nobody had a car, and only the better off had a horse and cart/ carriage. In many parts of the world this is still the case.

I have never driven, and have chosen where to live on the back of this. Even when I lived in a village I chose one with a reasonable bus and train service ten minutes away. Now I live in a city centre so transport is, quite literally, on my doorstep! But public transport needs to be cheaper to make it a desirable option.

You are right of course but of course then people didn't travel as far as we do now and the extra toil didn't do the body any good (not that the modern lifestyle is doing it much good either).

If it was a case of going to work and back it would be doable for me but because I want to enjoy my time at home with my children it means travelling a lot of miles to do the things we want to do. The other option would be to sit at home and play playdoh all day but I'd probably go mad :rotfl: . Oh and I'd have to send DD to the local school :eek:

A_fiend_for_life

I've found public transport hit and miss depending on where you live. If you live in a town it's generally not a problem getting a bus / train at the right time to where you want to go.

As soon as your in a rural area it's a different story. Rural communities would probably make more progress setting up their own community transport rather than trying to get the council or bus companies to put on more services. ie setting up their own minibus up to the nearest train station, bus stop or town. Getting people to contribute to the service and it's associated costs is a different kettle of fish I'm sure.

Failing that it is getting used to all weather cycling.

The places I've found worst for public transport is when the same company runs the train and bus services. This is when prices start taking a hike.