1 What will you do? |
Rather than buying a car immediately simply because it would make things more convenient, I want to see if I can avoid it at least until the end of summer. I haven't owned a car for over two years now, and have managed to walk, bike, take buses, get rides from friends, and borrow a roommate's car. This has been relatively easy because I've been living in a college town.
By the end of the month I'll be living a few blocks from where I'll work full-time. The center of town will also be nearby and I'll be within walking distance of the grocery store.
It may not be feasible to carry all my groceries. There will probably be other times I need to transport gear of some kind, so might buy a bike trailer like the Burley Nomad.
When I need to travel further than I'd like to bike, there are a couple options: buses and carpooling. Both bus routes could only take me further North, but I anticipate this being useful when I want to visit some of my friends. So far my only distant, scheduled obligations are company softball games. Hopefully carpooling with coworkers will be an option. |
2 How will you test your idea and measure success? |
Quantitative measures:
I will track the actual financial, time, and environmental costs for transportation and compare them to estimated costs for the same transportation with a car of my own. Certain costs will be considered negligible, such as time spent looking at a bus schedule or standing at a gas pump.
Qualitative measures:
A major part of this is for personal satisfaction, which I don't know how to measure numerically. I will try to record both positive and negative experiences, along with speculation about how it could have been different.
Success:
Of course if I don't buy a car before the end of summer, that is a success. To avoid torturing myself, I will also consider it a success if I buy a car at least a week after stating here that my net dissatisfaction exceeds the quantitative benefits. |
4 How will you enjoy the journey? |
By perceiving the effects of my decisions I will better understand why it is a good idea for me to either not have or have a car. As a result I will more justified, regardless of what happens.
Also, if by the end my actual financial costs are far below the estimated value, I will reward myself by using a sizable portion of the difference for something I care about. |
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Comments & Observations
Lizzy Hi Jake, this is a great experiment and one that saves tons of money! Funny how we can get by with less when set our minds to it. But the convenience factor is of course always in the periphery. I like that you are using such an analytical approach to solving an issue which has an emotional component. Measuring dissatisfaction, I like it!
Will be interested to see how it goes.
May 05, 2010
Matthew Cornell Awesome experiment, Jake. Having work and groceries nearby is major. I love biking - it feels more satisfying than taking a car, for me. Borrowing others' cars is cool too. I think it used to be that, when neighborhoods were stronger, sharing was more common. Hand tools, shovels, etc. It makes a lot more sense than the current mode of one of everything per household. I'd like to see it go the other way, with a car being a big one in the dimensions you mention.
Question: Is Zipcar something that would be useful? I see them around once in a while.
May 05, 2010
Brock Tice I'd be interested to see the numbers on this. I got rid of my car for about 20 months when I lived in Baltimore, and during that time Zipcars became available. I used them occasionally.
It's easy to think that paying for a cab now and then is really expensive, but when you compare it to the cost of car insurance alone, it starts to look not so bad. Then you have maintenance, repairs for things that break, and more. Just a few weeks ago I had to pay over $400 for two new tires when I blew one, and an AC recharge. You might argue that it's possible to do without the AC, but I did that last summer and the car gets way too hot. It doesn't cool down even with the windows all the way down by the time I get to daycare to pick up my daughter, who had a real hard time with the heat.
So, bravo, and looking forward to your observations!
May 06, 2010
Brock Tice Oh, also, we got a couple of bike trailers as hand-me-downs for carrying around the kiddo. I had thought they'd be pretty cumbersome to ride with, but they're not bad at all! Highly recommended if you need to cart big stuff around. You probably already know, but you can carry quite a bit with a good cargo rack and panniers alone. There are also 'grocery bag' panniers that work pretty well (bigger and boxier), and should be more than enough for you, unless you've got a family/roommates to buy for.
May 06, 2010
Matthew Cornell Two more thoughts on this. First, yours is an audacious experiment, given our transportation culture and how we've structured our land to be human-unfriendly. As Brock said, bravo. Second, an important word we need to introduce here is "sacrifice." Hopping into a car to drive down the road for a DVD or snack is waaaaaay too easy. If you don't have a car, things become more complex - you need to plan more, to be willing to be more uncomfortable (physically and psychologically - say when asking for favors), and to be more patient. It's not solely your schedule anymore - it's everyone's who's sharing the resource. Good work.
May 06, 2010
Brock Tice Good point, Matt, about resistance to going out. It was amazing all of the trips I decided I didn't need to make when I didn't have a car. Also, I got hooked on Amazon.com, but that's another story entirely.
May 06, 2010
Andy O'Shea Great idea for an experiment, Jake! I only recently realized how much of an impact cars have on the way we live our lives (for example, think of how much space would be saved in a neighborhood if there were no roads) and am interested in ways to reduce this dependency. Though, I have been too lazy to attempt it myself. I'm looking forward to the results of this experiment. If you end up going carless, I might try it out as well (assuming there are alternative means of transportation to work).
May 09, 2010
Jake Mitchell Now that I'm fully moved into my new apartment I should update with a few observations. I've noticed that by living so close to work, I have virtually no regular dependence on cars. Before moving in I would hop in a car with a bunch of coworkers and eat out for lunch nearly every day. Now I just take five minutes to walk home and have a much less expensive lunch. Of course I'll still want to go out with my coworkers sometimes, but it's great having the option to eat at home.
A couple nights ago I walked a few blocks to the grocery store to stock up a bit. I filled up one of those plastic carts that you carry and it ended up being two plastic bags. Not so bad. Then when I went outside I saw some hanging plants for sale and really wanted one for my new apartment. Dilemma: to carry 2 bags and a plant on a sprained ankle not. I tried it and got home with all of it okay. That was probably one of the more difficult trips home that I'll face, at least for the summer. Hopefully once my ankle is better and my bike is fixed up I can use it with some panniers, a cargo rack, or a trailer. Thanks for that suggestion, Brock.
May 26, 2010
Matthew Cornell Sounds like you're getting into it, Jake. Being healed will certainly help!
May 28, 2010
Brock Tice I don't know if you're keeping any kind of tally, but you might want to quickly calculate about how much you're saving on lunch every week, then balance that against any related costs you incur from *not* having a car
Jun 04, 2010
Jake Mitchell I'm quickly realizing that not having a car inhibits my autonomy in social situations. There have been several times in the recent past where I've had to wait on others to get where I need to go, and it's prevented me from being able to do what I care about. Oddly enough, I recently missed getting a ride from somebody because it took longer than expected to get a ride home from somebody else.
Last night I started looking at cars online and will probably check out a few today. True, I said I'd wait to buy a car for at least a week after I said I was considering it here, but the loss of autonomy is really stifling. Odds are this experiment is about to walk the plank.
Jun 06, 2010
Brock Tice Any chance the occasional cab ride could remedy this in a more cost-effective manner? Just as a thought experiment, what would you do if buying a car was not an option, but you still wanted to do the things you care about?
Jun 06, 2010