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Original poster

Could do you do without your car?

236 replies

anon2334 · 12/03/2022 14:14

Or would you never consider that ? Public transport? Cycling? Walking all good options depending on where you live. I’m cutting back, school runs I need the car though , but definitely walking more into town etc and to parks. Just doing occasional trips out etc.

OP posts:
Soubriquet · 12/03/2022 14:15

No.

No public transport where I am and it’s 5 miles to the town.

ParkheadParadise · 12/03/2022 14:19

No, I would be lost without my car.
Recently, I've started to walk dd to school but the weather is usually pishing down so I end up taking the car.
I like having the freedom to go wherever I like without having to get a bus/ train.

namechangeanonymous · 12/03/2022 14:21

Logistically not impossible but certainly wouldn't be easy so I'm going no.

AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair · 12/03/2022 14:24

No, there's no useable public transport, no jobs or shops within walking distance

PrancerFeet · 12/03/2022 14:24

No. Dh works an hour away by car. The train would take two hours and is expensive. I work in a different place every day and I need to be able to get there efficiently and at short notice.

FantasticFebruary · 12/03/2022 14:25

Not now I couldn't. Part of my job is driving & the things I need the car for I tend to do when I'm out for that.

I do walk to the post office/chemist etc when I need to go & I'm not out for work etc

But appreciate the convenience of my car for leisure stuff too. Only one bus route here, it's not a bad route, but very north/south, nothing east/west.

In the past I've lived in various other places and not had a car, loved the various lifestyles. (Valencia - cycled loads!! Austria/French Alps -skied/walked. Skiing to the bank for work always made me smile!!) & kayaking to the suppliers to pay bills in The South of France.

I look back on my life & it makes me smile. I'm glad I did, what I did, when I did. Despite it frequently not being exactly the best thing for my career!!

Sorry I digress.

Caspianberg · 12/03/2022 14:25

Nope.

We did go car free for about 8 years when we lived in the city, as it was easy to use public transport and just car hired the odd occasion.

Now, our nearest bus stop is about 1.5miles away. The bus runs a few times a day only. Last bus 6pm, nothing on weekends.

Candlecassie · 12/03/2022 14:25

No. No public transport to town which is 7 miles away.

shabbalabba · 12/03/2022 14:26

Nope...kids school is 3miles away but we still have to drive and I need the car to get to work.

LaraDeSalle · 12/03/2022 14:26

No. We moved from London to Wales and public transport is nowhere near the same!

Asdf12345 · 12/03/2022 14:26

If I changed job and stopped a few hobbies I could probably get by with a bicycle.

I have to work across several sites and be able to get from place to place faster than
I can cycle.

JeffThePilot · 12/03/2022 14:26

No, I need it to do my job.

gogohm · 12/03/2022 14:28

No, can't get to work without it - literally! First bus is at 9.45am (yes I know) and I start work at 9am. It's 6.5 miles, national speed limit and a 1:4 hill up and down

Topseyt · 12/03/2022 14:33

No, even though I only use it maybe 3 times a week.

I do minimise how much I use the car as much as I can and I am not a particularly keen driver, but there is little in the way of public transport here so I have no choice.

If I lived in a city like London with a good network of buses and tubes on my doorstep then I might not even have a car.

ikeairgin · 12/03/2022 14:33

We have but it's been hard and the kids are grown up. I miss just popping out to see a friend or something

It has severely limited my freedoms

But we may well have to embrace this sooner rather than later

drawingpad · 12/03/2022 14:33

No. The only public transport I can manage is trains (including underground), we have a great bus network here, easy access to taxis and even an international airport not too far away but I'm just not able to use them. I can't even articulate why. I'm autistic and haven't travelled by bus for many years, other peoples driving terrifies me though. DH is physically disabled and would never manage to get to the bus stop, never mind on the bus, so the car for us is needed.

PukkaP · 12/03/2022 14:34

I could, but I don't intend to

SoftPillow · 12/03/2022 14:35

No, we live rurally, no public transport at all, roads very dangerous for cycling.

School is a 25 mile round trip, couldn't cycle that, and work is 22 miles along a 3 lane A road, couldn't cycle that either.

FlippyFloppyFlappy · 12/03/2022 14:36

No. Semi rural, and my son is disabled. He's a nightmare on public transport but likes going to different places. I'd be stuck if I didn't have a car.

wheresmymojo · 12/03/2022 14:36

No.

My place of work is 45 miles from where I live and public transport would be fairly impossible.

Outside of that we could theoretically do it but given that we live in a village it would be very, very limiting.

Public transport is one bus an hour and quite expensive per trip.

trilbydoll · 12/03/2022 14:36

Yes, I could, but my life is set up around my 15 minute car commute. If I cycled I'd have to rejig everything for school runs etc, realistically dc would spend more time in wraparound care.

I don't use it much at the weekend etc, I walk as much as I can, but it's so much more convenient in the week.

Thewindwhispers · 12/03/2022 14:37

Nope, we’re semi-rural, the road in between me and the shops/school/everything is busy and isn’t safe to walk on (and has the fatality record to provenit 👀)

I didn’t have a car when I lived in London and wouldn’t have wanted one there.

Ohshitiveturnedintomymother · 12/03/2022 14:38

No, I work 20 miles away with no direct public transport and I don’t fancy a 2 hour each way commute on the train. I also have horses I need to drive to and can’t put bales of shavings and sacks of feed on a bike.

I do try to walk into town and my village, but that’s only fine on days I don’t have any plans as it’s 45 mins walk each way which is a long ‘pop’ to the shops.

People that encourage others to give up their cats/wax lyrical about how they gave theirs up tend to either live in cities or big towns with excellent public transport or must live very small, insular lives.

Purplemoon738 · 12/03/2022 14:38

Yes! I hate having to rely on a car so have made sure we live somewhere where everything is walkable or via public transport. We live in a small town where school, shops, parks, beach, cafes and restaurants are all walking distance. Public transport is good for work or if we want to go further afield. We also use our bikes. I would quite like a car for the odd day out or holidays though. I’m not sure we will get one any time soon though looking at the cost of fuel!

wheresmymojo · 12/03/2022 14:38

Worth saying I lived without a car until I was in my early 30's though.

But I had no DC and chose places to work and live based on the fact I didn't have a car (so I had to be walking distance to a mainline station and limited to working in London or Guildford)