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Thoughts on car ownership
Jun. 10th, 2009 02:03 pmI'm thinking about phasing out my car usage and possibly even selling my car eventually.
What do I get out of owning a car?
Okay, so what are the costs of owning a car?
My idea is to transition to using bike and skateboard as much as possible. I'd travel This results in huge benefits:
There are some drawbacks to this, though. However, I think most of it involves doing better planning and management
At this point, I'm averaging 5 mph on my skateboard. As I get better and fitter I think I might be able to push that up towards 10 mph, but I'm not sure just how far I can do so. So going to work on my board would take an hour. I plan to buy a bike at some point, and based on my research, it seems most people average about 25 mph on those. Again, it would take me time to get up the strength and endurance to do that, I would imagine.
Based on this, I'd probably want to use my skateboard for distances under 10 miles eventually, and use a bike for distances under 30. Beyond that, I'd want to find alternative methods, or just suck it up and let it take longer.
I've investigated public transportation, and it seems to me that it would be a good idea to move to a place that is a lot closer to the major transit routes, like caltrain, VTA light rail, and/or BART. Perhaps Sunnyvale or Mountain View... That would help me using public transit to get places, which I could then augment with skateboard or bike.
At the moment, I'm just going to continue working on building up strength and endurance for traveling longer distances. I did a 5 mile run two nights ago on my skateboard, and it completely wore me out. I've been letting myself heal over the past few days. So I've got a ways to go. But frankly, this idea seems to be very beneficial and useful to me. And although I lose a lot, I also think I'll gain a lot from switching to alternative forms of transportation.
What do I get out of owning a car?
- I get to nearby places really quickly. I can travel 5 to 20 miles in less than a half hour, based on traffic, lights, etc.
- I can transport large amounts of stuff, such as full grocery runs.
- I can go on road trips to places like Seattle, Denver, etc.
Okay, so what are the costs of owning a car?
- $350 Car payment + $150 insurance + $100-$200 gas = $600 to $700 a month to drive.
- I'm adding pollution to the world.
- I don't get to interact with people or my environment when I'm driving.
My idea is to transition to using bike and skateboard as much as possible. I'd travel This results in huge benefits:
- Constant exercise! Keeps me healthy! Not like a car where I'm sitting still for the trip.
- I get to talk to pedestrians, bikers, and other skaters while doing so! I can actually interact with other human beings!
- I learn more about the environment I live in, discovering new shops, new places to hang out, new parks, etc.
- Less pollution in the world.
- It's more fun than driving a car, to me.
There are some drawbacks to this, though. However, I think most of it involves doing better planning and management
- If I want to travel somewhere and I'm feeling really tired, I need to rely on public transit.
- I need to leave earlier to get places. If I'm doing short distances on a bike, it's probably about the same as a car, but longer distances or using my skateboard reduces my speed even more.
- I can't haul entire loads of groceries back from the store. I have to shop more often and buy less stuff.
- If I want to go on a road trip, I need to rely on friends or rental cars.
At this point, I'm averaging 5 mph on my skateboard. As I get better and fitter I think I might be able to push that up towards 10 mph, but I'm not sure just how far I can do so. So going to work on my board would take an hour. I plan to buy a bike at some point, and based on my research, it seems most people average about 25 mph on those. Again, it would take me time to get up the strength and endurance to do that, I would imagine.
Based on this, I'd probably want to use my skateboard for distances under 10 miles eventually, and use a bike for distances under 30. Beyond that, I'd want to find alternative methods, or just suck it up and let it take longer.
I've investigated public transportation, and it seems to me that it would be a good idea to move to a place that is a lot closer to the major transit routes, like caltrain, VTA light rail, and/or BART. Perhaps Sunnyvale or Mountain View... That would help me using public transit to get places, which I could then augment with skateboard or bike.
At the moment, I'm just going to continue working on building up strength and endurance for traveling longer distances. I did a 5 mile run two nights ago on my skateboard, and it completely wore me out. I've been letting myself heal over the past few days. So I've got a ways to go. But frankly, this idea seems to be very beneficial and useful to me. And although I lose a lot, I also think I'll gain a lot from switching to alternative forms of transportation.
