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Uploaded: Friday, April 17, 2009, 9:25 AM

Life without a car
Palo Alto teachers discover public transit, 'stress-free' commutes

by Chris Kenrick
Palo Alto Online Staff

Posted by Charmaine, a resident of another community, on Apr 17, 2009 at 12:59 pm

I live in the Washington, DC area, but used to live in the Bay Area...so I keep in touch with the news there.

I went car-free about a year and a half ago. My friends and family thought I was CRAZY! That was just before the gas prices went up - then they thought I was pretty smart! :)

The D.C. area is pretty good too, in transportation alternatives. I am an avid bicyclist, commuting 32 miles rountrip to my job each day. It's good to have the subway, bus, etc. available, especially when the weather is bad. When I donated my car, I was given a free lifetime membership with Zipcar, plus $500 in driving credit (to be used within a year). I made that $500 last all year. :) Zipcar is very handy, though I only use it on occasion, since it's a little expensive (about $80 a day to get a car - but of course, that includes your insurance and gas). Most of the time I try to ride my bike places in conjunction with taking the subway. Also, I have taken one of my folding bikes onto Amtrak to other cities, and also long-haul buses (putting the bike in the luggage area under the bus).

When I went car-free, I opened up a separate savings account, and each month, I put in the amount I would have spent on car insurance and gas. I've saved up a good amount so far! :) Plus, as Christina noted in the article, you also don't have a lot of the stresses from owning a car. Yes, a car is convenient, but you really can work around it if you are a little resourceful. :) Of course, not every city is good for offering transportation alternatives, and sometimes, the distances are too far to bike, etc. But I think the major cities are good for being car-free. Try it, you'll like it! :) It was a bit of a leap of faith when I did it - but I figured if it didn't work out, I'd get another used car. I'm happy to report, life has been fine without a car! :)

Charmaine

Posted by Adam, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Apr 20, 2009 at 12:53 pm

It's easy to use public transit here when it's obviously more convenient (going to a Giants game, Sharks game, etc). But add up all the time you spend waiting for transit, dealing with inevitable delays, as well as handling connections and stops, then put an hourly rate on that time. Going car-free may ostensibly save you money, yet when you consider how much your time is worth, the savings are likely small.

In the end (imho), the convenience of owning a car is easily worth the cost...but then again, maybe your time is worth less money to you than mine is to me?

Posted by James Hoosac, a resident of the Green Acres neighborhood, on Apr 20, 2009 at 3:41 pm

One of the foremost competitive advantages of The United States is the mobility of its people. While public transportation is important, and should be enhanced in this country, we simply cannot emulate the Japanese or Europeans by reducing our mobility.

Typically those who advocate public transportation wants to greatly increase the tax on mobility in order to fund their projects. This would be a grave mistake.

Posted by PatrickD, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Apr 20, 2009 at 6:06 pm

James, how much mobility do you have when you're stuck sitting bumper-to-bumper in traffic on 101? Where does the money come from to pay for paving every street, parking lot and freeway and building every bridge, tunnel, over-pass, intersection and parking structure to support our car infrastructure?

Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Apr 20, 2009 at 6:18 pm

James?

Where do you get the impression that Europeans who use public transportation have no mobility?

Even those Europeans (Londoners) who do not own a car because they live in the center of a large city with excellent transportation, do have mobility outside the city. Taxis within the city for late night (particularly when drinking alcohol is involved) plus car rental for weekend or other out of town excursions or vacations, still make more sense for the average city dweller's budget and lifestyle.

Nowhere does lacking the ownership of a car mean lack of mobility.

Posted by sally, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Apr 21, 2009 at 9:09 am

I agree that there are just as many, if not more, freeway traffic jam delays as public transit delays. Caltrain sticks very close to its advertised schedule, so there is very little waiting for trains. Once you're on the train, you can read a book or a newspaper or work on your computer. This is stuff you would do anyway, so your time is much more productive than when driving on the freeway. I hope you are not trying to read the newspaper when driving.

Public transit doesn't work for everyone, but it does work great for many people. Rush hour Caltrain trains are pretty crowded these days, so it must be working for a lot of people.

Yes, Caltrain can be improved and I hope they do, but the existing service is very useful. Hopefully, the anti-HSR people will not block improvements to the current Caltrain service.

Posted by Claire, a resident of another community, on Apr 21, 2009 at 10:13 am

I would love to use public transit. But, as another poster put it, what's my time worth? It takes approximately 20 minutes by car for my 7.5 mile commute. Using public transit means I need to allow 90 minutes one way (right, I'm talking about using VTA- light rail isn't close enough to where I live) for my work commute due to the layout in my area for transit. Perhaps VTA is a bad example, but this is what we have. I tried it a few times- got frustrated with the long waits and unpredictability of transit. Never mind the fact that there are times I need a car for running errands during lunch hour or to take my mother to the store OR doctor's appointments. So, yes, I would love to use transit, but ONLY if it didn't take so long to get somewhere. VTA is what convinced me that I needed a car in Santa Clara Valley.

Posted by sally, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Apr 21, 2009 at 10:44 am

Yes, public transit in Silicon Valley is most efficient for people who live near the Caltrain and light rail stations. That is why there is so much demand for housing near the stations.

For people who think they need their car to run errands, etc., you don't run errands every day, right? A lot of people will use public transit (or bicycle) 3 or 4 days a week and drive on those occasions when they will really need their car.

Posted by Bob, a resident of another community, on May 4, 2009 at 1:47 pm

So really, the bottom line is that San Francisco is just a civil engineering mess that is overpopulated. Wait until her family doesn't live a short walk from a light rail station.

She could also do the GREEN thing and move closer to her job instead of being a Marina District hipster. But no, it's more posh to blog about being 'car free' and taking public transit. I just love taking a 20 minute drive and turning it into a 3 hour trip.

MUNI & Caltrain (and BART too) are raising fares *again* too, making public transit a lot less attractive. Oh well.