Car Free in Raleigh

Many books on living without a car reach for the “compromise” of a “car-lite” lifestyle; use your car as little as possible, but keep it.

There are a few reasons why I don’t think that’s the ideal situation.

1. It’s darned near impossible to be disciplined enough to do it. (See anecdotal story below.)
2. You maintain many of the expenses of car ownership while taking on the additional expenses of other forms of transportation. Compared a car payment, a bus pass is cheap. In addition? Not so much.
3. You don’t get to experience much of the truly simplified life, because there are always justifiable reasons to use the car when it is sitting in your driveway. You will go shopping when you wouldn’t otherwise. You will run errands that could wait. Etc.

Anecdotal story

Once in a while, Mark’s father encourages him to take the extra work truck home. (Usually when they’ve been working late or when he needs to meet Mark at the job site the following day, rather than at his home.)

When this happens, we have a truck sitting in our driveway. It’s amazing how much less creative we are when driving is an option. We miss the bus… then justify driving rather than waiting an hour for the next one. We drive to the grocery store that’s further away, rather than take the bus. And then buy more stuff, because it’s easier to haul home.

But surprisingly, we also feel unsettled about driving. We are more aware of how much time we spend stuck in holiday traffic. We feel antsy, eager to be on foot or in the roomy confines of a bus. And when we get home, we don’t usually opt to drive anywhere else for a long time.