To make a car-free commute work, you don’t need to have convenient bus service from absolutely everywhere to absolutely everywhere else – but you do need to have some flexibility in where you live with respect to where you work. Maybe you don’t have that right now (and that’s OK) but if you were starting from scratch and wanted to choose a home in your area with a car-free commute in mind, maybe you could live somewhere along the bus route that goes by your workplace. Or maybe you could even live within walking distance of your workplace.

Bus service in my town is pretty dismal too – a lot of routes only run once an hour, and not at all in the evenings or on weekends, and they take forever to get anywhere because their routes are all squiggly and make no sense. But when I moved here, I knew I wanted to try to get by without a car, so I chose an apartment within walking distance of work, which also happens to be within walking distance of a train station that gives me easy access to most places. Five years later, it’s still working well for me.

Okay, if this is *not* supposed to be code for “I don’t like to be around black people,” I suggest you clarify yourself, lest people get the wrong idea…

You spent “$11,546 over 179,000 miles” which to me seems very high. If thats just repairs and not maintenance then that is higher than average I’d think. I’ve had 2 cars over the past 14 years both bought used and I’ve spent about $2000-$3000 total over 100,000 miles. But then maybe I’m just lucky or had cheaper cars. There is luck involved and repair costs also depends on the car in question. The repair /maint on a Land Rover will be a lot higher than a Toyota Corolla.

For those that want to live frugally (and live in a place where they could ride regularly) an investment in a scooter really makes a lot of sense. Its far cheaper than even public transportation and you have complete control of when and where you go. As I like to tell people, it really is almost free to drive.

I would never, ever drive to work because the parking is both expensive and inconvenient. I’ve tried biking to work, but I’m a little out of shape and I really miss being able to read. So I take the bus, which is paid for by my employer. And I find riding the bus much less stressful than driving–when driving during rush hour it feels like everyone is thinking that if only I were dead, they could get where they are going 5 seconds faster. Whereas when I’m riding a bus, I just read. Sometimes knowing that I get to read soon is the only thing that gets me out of bed. (Usually it’s my full bladder, though.)

I seriously thought about going without a car again last time I switched cars but I just really don’t like it. I do most things (besides work) with my boyfriend but not all, so on a fairly regular basis I want to do things alone. Now that my friends are middle aged, they have ALL moved out to the suburbs – only one lives anywhere near a bus route (besides me). Also, I just love, love, love being able to lend my car to my boyfriend when his breaks down, even though that happens less than once a year. I feel like I lose my freedom when I don’t have my own car. So I get one that is durable and has fairly good gas mileage. My car has better mileage and a better air conditioner and makes less pollution than my boyfriend’s car, so I drive when we’re going together somewhere, and I still fill the tank less than once a month. (A/C matters where I live because I live in a place where we’re all excited that finally, for the first time in weeks, next Monday’s high temperature is predicted to be below 100 degrees. Far below 100 degrees–maybe even the low 90s!)

I did go without a car for four years in this town once and I was okay except for coming home from parties (always after the last bus). I don’t mind carrying my groceries or laundry on the bus (I consider it my exercise for the day). But now my friends live further out and I can afford more out-of-house activities. I rented a car about twice a year to make large purchases and/or visit my relatives who live 200 miles away.

One other option–many cities now have car-share companies. I think it’s cheaper than renting a car, especially if you do it often. When I checked, there weren’t any of these cars parked near my house, but it could be an option for some.

“Even with the $3,000 ($25 per month over 10 years) for major repairs factored-in, the numbers in this post seem too optimistic.”

I wrote a blog post detailing every repair on my car’s 11 year life and it comes to $322 per 5,000 miles.

Total repairs: $11,546 over 179,000 miles (we bought the car brand new, so buying a used car means there may be more repairs per additional mile than when starting from zero).

$11,576 divided by 179 = $64.50 per 1,000 miles.

Multiply this $64.50 by 5 and you get maintenance of $322.50 per 5,000 miles.

Here’s the blog post’s address: organizemyaffairs.com/blog/personal-finance/our-car-story-by-the-numbers

Right now my family owns two cars. But we don’t use one of them. My work is an easy 35 minute bus ride, and I am loving all the reading I get to do. If I drove I would have to find and pay for parking. I don’t think it would save me any time at all.

Back when we still owned one car, I had a different job in another direction. Bus service that way way terrible. It took me about an hour 20 each way. Still, I am glad we didn’t spring for a second car, since the company was also terrible and I got laid off 9 months into it!

Anyways, I do think people tend to underestimate the ownership costs of a car, and overestimate the value of their time. But I also think Trent tends to over- or under-estimate costs (both time and money) depending on his preconceived notions. So in the end it’s probably a wash.

I always had a vehicle, and I still do, though it consumes gas at a horrible rate. So although I own a cars, I rarely– I take my bike onto the bus in the morning and bus it up to work, and then ride my bike home afterwards.

I have to be at the bus stop every morning at 7:20 in order to be sure to be at work by 8. This is entirely because the bike rack on the bus may or may not be full for the 7:25 bus, and I might have to take a later bus (if the 7:25 bus still has bike racks available, I’m at work by 7:45).

If the weather is bad or we have an emergency, my boyfriend will come pick me up in our gas-guzzling car. If I know I’ll need to drive a long distance, I’ll rent a car for about $20/day (on the weekend).

Sorry to be such an enthusiast about it, but because I take the bus and bike, I get exercise, it’s better for the environment, and we save a ton of money on gas.

While I don’t have kids, and that makes a difference in how willing I am to spend time in transit, don’t forget that this still have one car– So if there is an emergency, Darrin can pick up her husband or he can drop off the kids and take the car. Or, Darrin can drop him off in the morning (to avoid being late for work) and he can take the bus home. Or he can take the bus in the morning and she can pick him up.

There are so many possibilities and variations… It doesn’t just have to be one car per driver, or only one person gets the car– there are many options.

(By the way, I do really like everyone’s suggestion that they just replace the scooter.)

For starters – we have dogs. Big dogs. And city buses do not like dogs on the bus. We have frequent vet trips, training school, dog shows and other events dogs must attend.

My second vehicle, is a motorcycle. Because it’s cheap, extremely fuel efficient, and convenient.