I lived in a walkable city for a decade and now live in a more rural area where cars are a necessity.
Now that I need a car, I need to:
As someone with ADD the extra responsibilites are stressful and often slip by me, not to mention the costs add up. It's also omnipresent in my mind that on any given day that I drive, especially on the highway, statistically that is the most likely way I will die considering my current age and health. I don't miss carting my groceries around in the snow or rain, and it's nice to be able to move large, heavy items relatively easily, but man I miss the freedom of just leaving my door and walking somewhere.
Growing up with cars as the norm, you don't realize how much it sucks till you list it out like that.
I save a huge amount of money compared to somebody with a car. HUGE.
All I need to pay for is a bus, tram, or train ticket, and I can easily get anywhere in the city with minimal walking time.
And heck, that's cheap. All the buses are capped at £2.00 regardless of the journey length, for example! Two quid!
There are a lot of other benefits too. For example, I don't have to worry that someone will nick my car, and I don't have to make sure I live somewhere with parking available.
Owning a car just seems like such a ball and chain, especially considering how fragile that relationship can be. One day everything's great, the next day boom, you need to fork out 2 grand for repairs, or maybe the car's just.... gone.
2 quid buses is amazing. Shitey First Bus doesn't even get me out of the first zone for 2 quid.
Not having to spend money on insurance, maintenance, fuel, repairs, etc.
Less stressful. I never have to worry about accidentally killing anyone, except for that time I bought worcestershire sauce because I didn't know it had anchovies
I've got wrid of my car 3 years ago. The benefits I've encountered.
On the occasions we need a car I rent one or use a car sharing service.
Money - a lot of people are not aware of the money a car costs over a period of time.
Dependency - you are only able to drive a car in a special time of your life. If you are too young or too old you are not allowed - or it is very dangerous - to be the driver of a car. There are places you are just able to go by car. This is a problem: they are just made for car people. For instance: malls outside a city. Nobody is shopping in the inner citys, while everybody have to take the car to the mall. This system needs a lot of good working roads, parking spaces and other infrastructure.
Health - in regards of physical activity or is a lot healthier to live in an area where you are able to take public transport. Due to the last mile, which you are probably going by bike or by feet, you get your daily "workout". Also you are emitting much less emissions into the air. It seems that particulate matter of the reason for a lot of illnesses of our time.
Public Space - you are consuming much less public space than people who are owning a car. Parking lots are in habitats of humans all around. They cost a lot of money, are sealing good soil and the precious space in city is wasted to it. There are such nice projects all around the world, where former parking spaces or streets where changed to spaces for everyone.
You are forced to take your bicycle far more often. No excuses. You cannot just take the car whenever you feel lazy, tired or if the weather is mediocre. Your health will benefit from this a lot.
For me, the biggest benefit is the mental load I no longer have. I used to have to think about maintenance, MOT schedule, road tax scheduling, insurance scheduling, renewing my parking certificate, how much I drink, where I'm going to park, did I run out of time on the parking meter, is there traffic on my route, where are the road works...
The mental energy I'd waste just to deal with a car was massive. There's still mental energy with public transit, like what is the schedule and which bus do I need to be on to make it in time, and what do I do if a stop isn't near my destination, but it's a lot less mental load than having a car.
More than everything else, peace of mind. No worries about the condition and repairs and maintenance of a $40K hunk of metal and glass, or about accidents, injuries, insurance, parking, the idiot in the other lane, the price of gas, or anything else.
My bus comes at 7:45, la-di-da. :)
Being able to look at your children in the eyes and knowing that you aren't contributing to the pollution they are breathing, to the traffic noise they hear while they are trying to rest, or to the traffic that puts them in danger every time they go out.
Future generations will judge us for the shitty legacy we have left them.
No garage or parking space needed. No maintenance or renew license (car and driving) One thing less to purchase the accessories for. No gas and associated costs (toll, parking, etc)
If you are in not pedestrian friendly, bike friendly or good public transport, those benefits outweight the time necessary to go from one place to another.
Edit: add gas and car associated costs.
In a dense city finding parking is a huge pain that can take half the time of the drive lol
"Not having to feed and shelter a cow for her milk" If i use expressionism. Car taxes , fuel prices and traffic is a huge problem where i live and i can use buses, metros and my own legs to go anywhere reliably.
Well, first and foremost, I guess the main benefit is saving a lot of money. If you use your car everyday to go to work and go shopping it can cost thousands of dollars where I live. Between the fuel, insurance, parking fees, mandatory yearly checkup (with possible repairs which are even more costly), the bill climbs pretty fast!
And it can be such a pain to drive a car in the city. Traffic jams, Red lights every 2 minutes (we all get that unlucky day), finding a free parking spot, waiting at gas station when there's a penury (they are bound to happen!).
Using a bike or simply walking is comparatively hugely cheaper obviously, but also quite less frustrating in urban areas at least.
Having a few more drinks than you planned to when out because you took transit to get there.
Saving a fuck tonne of money. Between the financing, tax, MOT, petrol, parking and maintainable, I save thousands a year.
Better health. I walk about 2 miles total a day that I wouldn't if I had a car and drove to work. And then if I need to go to the shops or something that's either more expersise or I just don't buy the snacks I wanted. Plenty of people i know that drive will take their car to shops that are 5 mins walk away.
More "free" time. Since I don't have to focus on driving during my commute, I watch TV shows or movies, or play games (Currently binging Stargate and watch an episode each way on the commute, and beat the new Zelda mostly on the train)
Then the less tangible things like knowing I'm doing my fair share to stop climate change and encourage the government to invest in public transport.
Knowing I'm not repaonsible for kids growing up with respiratory diseases, knowing ill never get in a car accident and kill someone, whether due to my own negligence or not and have that on my conscience forever (my sisters husband killed a kid that ran infrint of his car. There was nothing he could have done, but he's still never been the same since)
And my mental wellbeing, my walk takes me through parks and woodland on one side and cute side streets filled with boutique stores and pop up art exhibitions on the other
Oh and I don't have to worry about my car when I go out drinking, or worry about it getting stolen or the catalytic converter being ripped out like my housemate does.
And probably a few other little things that I can't think of right now.
More money for other things
Well, by not having a car, I have almost enough money left over for a place to sleep, food, and internet.
People say you "need" a car to live, but really, you just need a car to maintain your lifestyle. But when something happens to your income, the first thing to go is the car. When you cannot afford to drive a car, suddenly your "needs" look completely different. Funny, right?
Economic, environmental and health. It’s always going to be a ton cheaper not to own a car that needs gas, maintenance and insurance, plus you generate less pollution in a myriad of ways, and by biking or walking places you obviously increase your personal fitness and health levels.
If I bought a car I would never be able to afford anything nice or fun again. We'd be behind on bills all the time and struggling to keep food in the fridge. Also, I'd be so stressed all the time, between stressful driving and being broke, I'd go nuts. Public transit gives me time to relax and watch a video or something on my way home from work too, which is nice. My only critique is that transit needs a wider range in my area. A train would be lovely.
Unfortunately it is necessary that I drive sometimes so I maintain my license and rent cars when I need them. It's mildly inconvenient and I don't always like walking out to the rental place, but life is so much nicer without a car. I also like knowing that I am doing my part to help the environment by walking and taking public transit.
Using a bike in urban area instead: Cheaper, no dealing with traffic, no dealing with parking, healthier, better for the environment.
I think money is one.
But let’s turn it around; what’s the benefit of owning one? I guess it kind of depends on where you live and what other modes of transportation are available to you. But in my case, I live in The Netherlands, in a city. I can walk most distances, or use my bike when needed. For longer distances I use public transport.
For a while I did own a car though. My job was in a location not easily accessible using public transport. In that case it absolutely made sense for me to get a car. Saved me a ton of time, which was worth the money to me.
It saves money and nerves. Also, I have to ride my bicycle much more which is healthy
It's much healthier if you live in a walkable city. Walking, cycling, even taking a subway and walking to the station and climbing stairs are all great for you. When I'm in a car-heavy city it starts to feel weird seeing people sitting at home, walking 10 seconds to sit in a car for a half hour, just to sit in a new place when you arrive.
Plus you can save so much money if you don't need a car. Walking is free.
Another benefit I only realized afterwards is discovering cool stuff around your city that you otherwise mightve never found if you just zip by in a car. I really enjoy finding weird holes in the wall and just popping in to see what's up.
I know I'm not answering this question persay, but I do certainly touch on some benefits of not owning a car, and why this isn't true for everyone.
I don't want anyone dismissing this as some "pro-car" post. It's not.
I live in the northern most city in North America with over 1 million people (Edmonton, I technically live in an outlying community, but still). Edmonton is unique in a few ways.
So simply what are the advantages? I would die in the winter first of all. That's not an exaggeration, if you don't live in a climate like this in the winter, you just don't understand. Being outside for upwards of 15 minutes is dangerous.
Moreover, families in my line of work would suffer. Even with amazing public transit, the weather here is bad enough, and the city is spread out enough, that it would not be doable to safely visit everyone in a day or make it on time since they're often across the city. Notably since Edmonton is so spread out (unlike say, a Toronto), traffic and getting around quickly on roads is pretty good and we don't see the same level of slow moving traffic as most major cities.
Now with that said, for the naysayers out there, who think I'm biased: first of all, we all are in one direction or another. Secondly, if you suggested reducing how spread out my city is, and massively increasing public transit and train funding (which again, remember is tricky here, because just hanging out in a train or bus shelter, if not heated here is genuinely dangerous to your life), I would be all for it! I think the biggest thing is city planning, zoning rules that make living places so far away from your purchasing needs like grocery stores is the real bane here and in many areas in North America. But the fact is that, again in my (admittedly unique) situation, even if the city suddenly didn't become dangerously cold in the winter, magically more dense, and amazingly more transit friendly, I need a car for my daily employment, and many do (you can't haul construction equipment, bring large medical devices, etc.) on a bike or bring it onto a train or bus with you.
I think the "fuckcars" argument is simplistic and WILDLY privileged. This attitude towards places in difficult climates, with limited funding for public transit in poorer countries, where taking any job, even one that needs a vehicle to drive around is a necessity, when coming from a European metropolitan perspective if wildly biased. Should all cities be as bikeable and transit centric as it is in Europe, again, YES, I agree with this wholeheartedly. But such an aggressive stance as being angry at car owners, making arguments that it indicates some political leaning (I've literally seen in the subreddit that cars are inherently right wing, like get over yourself and politicizing EVERYTHING), and literally naming a subreddit "fuckcars" is not exactly solution focused, and doesn't take the complexity of the living situation many are born in, into account. While I am priveleged in my own country and city, my whole life is here and I would challenge anyone saying "just bike" to make the 50km bike ride across sheet ice in -40 (-40 F) here and not also argue for necessity of a car here.
For the record for anyone who might otherwise dismiss my view on some erronious basis, I am a left wing environmentalist, vegetarian for environmental reasons, have owned a Smart Car and other "eco" vehicles, detest the giant truck and SUV culture that is awful to basically everything here (while understanding that a fairly small minority actually do need a truck), I own an E-bike and love in my small outlying town (population 4000) that I can bike to everything I need here, and would also use this when I lived in Edmonton at times.
I lived in Edmonton without a car, it is not as bad as you are making it out to be at all. You are exaggerating so hard. I used to haul a double stroller through Mill Woods in the winter time and my only problem was people nearly hitting me with their cars.
Money
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