How often do you use public transportation or a bicycle?

[jp1]

I live in San Francisco so I take transit the majority of places I go. The exceptions are when I have work meetings with clients and brokers in the suburbs and once every month or so we do a shopping trip to costco/target/etc. In those situations I use a zipcar.

[awakenedsoul]

Oh...zipcar! That's great. I've read all about that. I wish we had it here. If we did, I'd probably use that instead of owning a car. But everyone in my area owns a car. There is a small group of low income people who use the bus or walk, but they are a fraction of the population.

[awakenedsoul]

I walked to the post office yesterday while my car was getting serviced. Does that count ;-)

Yes. It's sure cheaper than renting a car. Sometimes I put my bike in the back of my car when I have it serviced. That way I can ride home. Or, I bring my knitting and wait until they finish the work.

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I actually find it easier on my body to ride a bike than to walk! I'm on the 2nd stop of our bus route, so the bike racks are usually empty. I would probably lock my bike at the bus stop and just ride the bus if the rack was full. (I've seen people do that.)

[gimmethesimplelife]

I am completely car free and I love it! I really do. There are times when it can be a pain, I won't deny that. But to not have gas, maintenance, insurance, etc. in my life - priceless. Not having a car forces me to live a simpler life and I so appreciate that. Not having a car has also cut back on what I can do for a living to some degree - but when I have sat down and done the math with required clothes and bills for a car to have a "better" job - I often break better waiting tables. I bus and walk everywhere and am saving up amazon.com giftcodes I get for doing surveys to get a nice bike sometime later this year - not a cheap bike but a decent one this time around, that might last longer than the cheap ones available at Target. Something else interesting I have found about not having a car - the lack of a car screens people out of my life who I would not be especially compatible with anyway.

There are those who will look down/judge at a man not having a car - though I think this doesn't apply in places like New York or Chicago or SF or Boston, Seattle, Portland - places that are not so sprawling and have good mass transit. Anyone who looks down on me for this life choice - I'm not like to be compatible with anyway. Plus from time to time I have met some real characters on mass transit - I mean this in a good way. Off the wall people who are not scary and have a very different from the crowd take on life, sort of like I do but some of these people make me look like Mitt Romney almost because they are light years out there. But interesting to talk to anyway, and had I a car I'd more than likely never run across such people. Rob

[awakenedsoul]

I know what you mean, Rob. I've met some interesting people on the bus, too. One lady I see quite often is very good with her money. She saved and invested, and no longer needs a car. She takes the bus and walks everywhere. She lives with her son, and he has a car. He makes good money and saves a lot of it. She's frugal, smart, and happy.

By the way, I bought my bike at Walmart for $70.00. I've been riding it for three or four years. I have a great bike repair guy, and everything that's gone wrong has been fixable. I didn't want to buy an expensive bike in case it got stolen. Thanks for your story.

[Florence]

No public transportation where I live. And since I use an electric scooter, I doubt I could get it on and off a bus anyway. When we visited Washington, D.C. we took the train from the airport to near the downtown hotel. It was a disaster. First, there was such a gap between the platform and the rail that I almost couldn't get the scooter in the car. Then once inside, there was a leak in the ceiling and the heavy rain was literally pouring in. Finally, when we arrived at our stop and got off, the elevator that I needed to get up to street level wasn't working. Never again.

[awakenedsoul]

Our buses here are very well equipped for people in wheelchairs. Every time I ride, I see people use the ramp to get on, and then the bus driver straps them in to the front seating area. It's marked for handicapped. It seems to give them independence, since most of them travel alone. I see the same people quite often. We also have Dial A Ride. They will come pick you up at your house. Our bus system lets seniors ride for free, too. It goes all over town. I love it! The metro goes downtown, and you can go to museums, see theater, sightsee, etc...passes on the weekend are only $10.00. I like to sit upstairs on the train and knit.

[gadder]

7 months of the year I bike everywhere I need to go (and even many places I do not need to go). The other 5 I go by shank's mare (walking). I am hoping someday to try biking in the colder months but I would need a little more courage. Sometimes I go to the boonies to watch a hockey game - there is a dedicated bus there and back. I have never owned a car (but am very grateful to friends that do, for those rare times when I need to carry back ten bags of potting soil).

I bought my $60 bike second-hand from a shop that is a co-op and employs young people who need a hand getting work-force skills. My bike is a nice beater, I have no worries about theft, I use cable ties to strap a large basket onto the back and plastic bags on the seat for rain protection - she's not pretty but she is faithful and reliable.

I am a huge fan of public transit and can't wait until they get the light rail service running here - I might just ride for the sheer pleasure of being in a train, as it is the most civilised way to travel.

[Miss Cellane]

When I lived in Boston, I used my car maybe one day a week, for errands like food shopping. The subway and buses and walking were my main modes of transportation.

But since I've moved to a small city in NH, I almost never use public transportation. My work is 5 miles from my house, and there is a bus service in town. But I'd have to walk a mile and a half to get the bus, then transfer to another bus, and walk a mile after getting off the bus. Driving, it takes me 12 minutes. On the bus, it takes 45. And it cuts the 5 miles down only by 2.5 miles. Not really worth the $6 round trip charge. And the last mile of walking is on a really busy stretch of road with no sidewalks--not terribly safe in winter, when darkness falls soon after 4 pm.

However, I do carpool with a neighbor who works at the company next to mine. We switch off driving each week.

For the same reason, I don't ride a bike to work. Too much traffic, too many really busy roads. And I'm a coward about biking in heavy traffic. To say nothing of the hills--I'd have to walk the bike up some of them.

Weather also plays a part in this. This past winter, there were a great many days when there was simply too much snow or it was just too cold to walk or bike anywhere.

However, I do take the train down to Boston when I want to go. It's fast and convenient and I can walk to the train station.

For a lot of stuff in town, like church, the library, City Hall, the thrift store, the hardware store--I can easily walk. The grocery stores have moved to the outskirts of town, so I have to drive to them.

[awakenedsoul]

I liked hearing about your bike, gadder. Miss Cellane, $6.00 is really expensive! (Our bus fares are $1.00 each way. A monthly pass is $30.00) The carpooling sounds ideal.

This makes me see how lucky I am to have warm weather year round, and low fares. We've got miles and miles of bike paths here, so often I ride the bike to save the bus fare. (I did just spend $160. on bike repair, but it's worth it.) This way, my car should last me another 20 years.