October "No-car" challenge

[kathirynne]

Being without a functional car for awhile (we have one now) has had the unexpected effect of making me realize just how much unneccessary driving I was doing.

For the month of October, I want to make no more than 15 trips by car, including 4 trips to church). All of our other travel will be via alternate transport (bicycle, skateboard, foot, public bus).

Anyone want to leave the car in the garage with me?

[WNB]

I would, but I'd have to de-clutter my garage, and this is definitely not the forum for that!!

[velochic]

I have no means of public transportation. And I have to pick up my dd from school every weekday (a 2 hour round trip)... go to my part-time job at a library 3 days a week (10 miles away), go to the grocery (no, I can't walk the 3 miles there and back), and take my mom to doctor's appointments. Even if I cut out everything else... nope. Can't do it. I live in America and not in a major city. Sorry.

[shaper]

I'm lucky to live in a city with great transit.. we sold our car 2 years ago Haven't missed it, either. We rent a car around Xmas to visit family but other than that.. it's a nice excuse to get out of a lot of things ("I'd like to but we don't have a car......") and it's saved us a lot of money.

So I'm not really good for commiseration if it gets hard but I can help out with encouragement. Mostly we do our grocery shopping locally on foot. We're also considering organic produce delivery (yays!). We've just moved to a new neighbourhood and everything is a lot more spread out here, so it's a bit more of a hike to the park than I'd like, but if I get really adventurous I can figure out what bus to take to get to a really great park. That's another thing - kids? loooove the bus. My son, if we pass by a bus and it leaves while we're still walking by will *freak out* because it left without him. Sometimes we have to time our walks really well to avoid that

At this point, I can't imagine owning a car again. We'll probably have to at some point - because I'm not going to be happy living in cities forever! But for the next ~7 years we'll be living in university cities and they're usually good for transit.

How many kids are you going to be hauling around on the bus? I mean that in the best possible (most supportive, 'been there') kind of way.. I only have the one and he's 3.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

I will!

I tried parking my car for the no-spend challenge (gas=money) and I made it 14 days without driving.

I would LOVE to exchange tips and encouragement for doing this.

I do live in a city with plenty of things to walk easily to and with good public transportation. I know that is key.

[Pepperdove]

man i wish i could!

but if i want to leave my house for any reason other than wandering aimlessly, i have to drive. sigh. we don't even have sidewalks.

[rachiem]

**Points out the fact that many people, especially in suburban areas, have no form of public transportation whatsoever.**

Myself included.

[mama_at_home]

Oh, what a wonderful thread!! I have absolutely no need for the car during the day and I am trying to wean myself off it. I just like having it there in the garage-it makes me feel at peace just knowing I can take it if I want to. Dh and I share a car so that means we have to take him to work, which makes for at least one unnecessary trip. I really want to be more home-centered but I am scared to take the plunge. When the kids are screaming and cranky I get in the car (which they like) and drive to Starbucks. I really just need to take the plunge!

[Da WIC Lady]

I would, but I have to drive at least 3 miles to work (I'm 8 months pregers and it's a narrow country road) and as much as 100 miles round trip if I go to the most outlying office. I don't live on the public transit line, and it doesn't go to any of the places I work. I do combine trips though and carpool with others when I can. I guess I could make a pledge to not drive on Sundays unless I go into labor.

Anna

[KariM]

I want to try!

15 trips means I can drive every other day, yes? That is TOTALLY do-able.

[jennnk]

I think we already do this, but I'd have to do the math
4 trips to S's house to watch her kids (no direct bus route from here to there, it would take an hour to get to her house, which is a 10-minute drive, and it would cost me $2.50 in bus fare vs. 1/7 of 1 gallon of gas, or 41&#162.

1 monthly trip to the midwife (again, would take an hour+ on the bus, vs. 15 mins. in the car)

4 trips (one per week) to a neighborhood other than ours for "exploration" or meet-ups with a playgroup

a total of 9 car trips per month. Not bad. And better than I thought we were doing!

everything else (groceries, parks, my job, etc.) are easy walks or a short bus ride away. I did the math the other night because of the "how many earths does your life take" thread and we've driven 1,000 miles since May 17. 800 of those miles are two round-trips to Portland, meaning we've driven 200 miles locally in 4 months. 50 local miles per month. That's about 2 gallons of gas (a bit less, really, but I'll round up) per month. I love Seattle

[my2girlz]

We don't have public transit in my town, but I'm going to leave my vehicle parked for hopefully 10 days in October.

[polyhymnia]

I can do this! I don't drive MT/ThF and only sometimes on the weekend. Tomorrow I'm carpooling with a friend to a scrapbooking event, and Sunday we'll just be around the house. I will probably drive to the grocery store. One thing I really hate is grocery shopping on foot. I did it for 2 years and that was enough for me, thank you. But the store is less than a mile away so that is not too bad and I will combine it with a stop at the PO and bank.

Next week, I'll probably drive on Wednesday to go to my knitting group - but I might take the bus if I can get a ride home with someone (the bus runs hourly on the half hour and our group goes until 9 so I either leave 30 min early or sit around for 30 min.. it's a 5 minute drive :P ). Other than that I don't have to do any driving next week. After that... we'll play it by ear, I guess.

[phathui5]

My goal will be to keep the van parked Monday through Thursday for the month of October. We have AP playgroup on Fridays, errand day on Saturday and church on Sunday.

This will be great because it'll save money in two ways; we'll buy less gas and being out of the house less should equal less temptation to spend money that we should be saving.

[captivatedlife]

I'm joining, but my goal is different (if that's ok!) I want to take alternative forms of transportaion to and from work 2 days a week and bus to church 1 week this month. (Am I allowed to set my own goal?!)

[Erin+babyAndrew]

we have a car but I never drive. dh drives us 1-2x a week for shopping, generally on the weekend. during the week the kids and I walk/stroller/bike to parks, mall, grocery stores etc.. I would say at most, we are driving 7 days a month.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Okay I need to sit down with my calendar and figure out which days we could realistically leave the car in the garage.

We could take the bus into town on Sunday for church. That is very doable...My DH takes the bus into town every single day for work. I don't know why I've never thought to do it before!

[guest^]

Count me in!!

I live in a small-mediumish size city on the Great Plains(U.S.A.). Our twelve year old van died last week. My DH is a retired Pro. Cyclist, and rides his bike everywhere to work and where ever he goes.

Our public trans system is horrible here. Not gonna depend on that. However! We do live in a nice neighborhood where basics like food(even HFS),drugstore,library(about a mile away),hospital,vet, and even a firestation is w/i a six block walk.

The only place that is out of our reach, is DD's dance class-all tha way across town-no bus even comes close to it. Until we get a vehicle, we will have to depend on a friend to get her there.

We are in debt(working on that!), and do not want a huge car payment. To visit my sis an hour away(the only supportive and close family member I have) I want a reliable car. So, while we are car searching, we are trying to instill the value and appreciation of owning a motorized vehicle. DH thinks this will be a great learning opportunity for the DC, opening huge discussions on how the U.S. is so dependent on cars,fuel,etc..

My reservations come from the fact that I have a handful of auto-immune illnesses-including Fibromyalgia and CFS. But trust me- my waist line could use the extra exercise. And.....we have drugstores and groceries that deliver for a small price.

I need so much support, and am hoping my body is up to it's newest challenge....

mp

[beansmama]

This is a pretty admirable goal!

I don't have a liscense!! My DH is in college now and he takes the bus 3x's a week and drives the other two days because his class lets out after the last bus (we live in a SMALL town with a very new and semi-crappy bus system, lol!).

We can't really walk that much right now because it's soooo rainy and cold out right now, but i do plan on driving MUCH less so we can save our gas money!

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

I'm up for it. I live in a small and very walkable town. There are no busses or any other kind of public transport but i can't think of anything that I want to do that is more than about 6 blocks from my house. I often do walk for groceries or library. I bet think I can do no more than 1 trip/week.