Could do you do without your car?

[anon2334]

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.

I don’t have a car
I walk to work, I walked the dc to school when they were at school
Dh has a car but he works from home
We don’t go to the supermarket- we get it delivered
I think we could manage without a car if we had to.

Yes. DH can't drive and whilst I've had my licence for several years, I only got a car three years ago, aged 28.

We live fairly close to Glasgow city centre, the buses are very frequent, and the train (a 5 minute walk away) takes 10 minutes to get into the city centre. There are loads of shops/takeaways on the main street and a massive supermarket very nearby - I did my weekly shop with my trusty polka dot trolley for years before I had the car

We also never go on UK holidays, so it's not like I'd have to give up driving to the Lake District or whatever. We get a taxi to the airport and go on either city breaks or packages by the beach - no car needed.

I grew up in a tiny, boring village with one bus and in out, and I moved to Edinburgh the second I could afford to. I'm definitely a city person and have no plans to ever live rurally.

We have one car & dh needs it for work during the week 4 out of 5 days . Tbh, I am fine without it during weekdays, I just hop on a bus or train with dc if we go into town & we walk to nearby playgroups/shops/cafes/parks if the weather is nice. If we lived somewhere more rural, I imagine I would struggle though.

I do have the car one day during the week and will sometimes drive out somewhere with dc, like a national trust place which I do love doing. I know I could do that by train but it is ALOT easier in the car when you have a toddler. I like nipping to Aldi too.

Most weekends, we drive out somewhere, it is nice to be able to just pack the car up and go, the convenience and comfort of it… so, no, we couldn’t do without it!

No, we live semi-rurally and public transport is poor. I’d be really stuck without a car.

No.
I walk to work and the supermarket. The DC's walk walk to school.

But I need the car for weekly extra curricular activities and visiting family.

I could. It would be inconvenient but I’d manage. I like to have it though.

No. Rubbish public transport here and no direct buses to the town I work in. Would take 2 hours probably more, each way for a half hour drive and I work long enough days as it is.

Day to day we'd be fine..
My partner cycles to work and I work mostly from home but we are considering getting another bike so I can cycle to the gym..

However food shopping would become alot harder (theres only so much a person can physically carry and driving is just easier for that) and we'd see our family alot less (they're a 2 hour drive, motorway the whole way) as the trains take twice as long, have multiple changes and are stupidly expensive.

Plus we like being able to get up and go and not be tied to specific timetables, if we want to go to the beach for example we don't want to be worrying about missing the train home

Not unless I change where I work and how I work

I need it for my job working out in the community, so no!
If not for my job, we would really miss not having a car. Public transport is rubbish here and we'd have to rely on lifts from family to get us to SEN DC regular hospital appointments.

No, I wish I could but I start work at 5.30am so no buses. Walking would take about an hour but even if I wanted to, the route isn't safe. It's along a busy A road that doesn't have pavement in many places.

We cut down to one car and use it significantly less than we used to. I could probably manage without one but it would impact on my life and stop me doing some stuff I love so I don't want to give it up.

My commute would go from 30 mins to 2-2.5 hours each way although I only go in a couple of days a week now. Couldn't have as many days out to nice places. Couldn't get to kids clubs. Couldn't visit family as often as a family ticket on the train is extortionate.

I walk places wherever I can. I share lifts when I can etc.

You know what, probably. I've only been driving for 8 years. Buses aren't great round here, but trains are very well connected. We are walking distance to the city centre, school, and train station, so rarely use it for that. Groceries are usually delivered anyway.

The main thing I'd struggle with is seeing my mum. She's local but rural, and not really walking distance - I could manage the walk but the DC couldn't - and is getting to an age and state of health where she can't really drive herself and needs lifts to things such as hospital appointments. But I suppose there's always taxis.

It would be harder, though not impossible, to visit the in-laws without a car.

I like the convenience of a car though. I'm trying to reduce our use of it, but I'd still prefer to have it than not.

So I don’t have a car to give up but the reason we can do that is we live in the inner city in London, so we have the infrastructure for car-free living. We have DCs and I always thought we’d end up with a car because of them but haven’t so far.

I can walk to most things (hospital, GP, supermarkets, hairdressers, gym, park etc). If I can’t walk there, there is an abundance of buses, trains and tube connections. I partially WFH, when I go into the office I use the tube, which would be the same regardless of having a car as driving into central London would be bonkers and there’s hardly any parking

I do like the idea of a car for day trips further out or U.K. holidays, because once you leave the inner city the transport infrastructure is nowhere near as reliable and lots of places just aren’t accessible at all. But, first DH and I would have to learn to drive! And then I wonder if we’d be useless drivers if we don’t drive regularly. I’m also not a keen student for driving (DH is up for it though), so I lack motivation a bit.

However, if we lived elsewhere then I would learn to drive and get a car out of necessity.

No. I need mine to do my job.

@PinaColada123456

As the minimum age is 17 here and is nothing to do with school it's not really relevant to this discussion

No we have good public transport but not for the school run.
Bus fare here is extortionate too. For ne and the dcs to city return £10 or £5 to park no lugging heavy stuff around.

No.

I run a dog-walking business and need my car to do my job. We also live rurally with very poor public transport.

A 40 minute drive to my parents' is over four hours by public transport.

Nope I walk everywhere I can but had to learn to drive and get a car when my job moved halfway across the county and you cannot get there other than by car cos the public transport is so shocking

No. I’m 50 miles from the office/supermarket and the one bus a day would give me 3.5 hours in town. Not sure the boss would be up for that…

No!!! 3 kids under 6 to cart to school would be a nightmare in public transportation. Also PT to this current school would be........ interesting....... and walking would be plain dangerous 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yes, we have good transport links and live within walking distance of most conveniences. We recently downsized from 2 cars to 1 and it hasn't been a problem, so I can imagine making it work without a car at all.

No, for work it’s essential!
I lost my license due to medical reasons for 6 months a few years ago and had to use public transport… never again if I can help it!
Buses where I live are infrequent and stop early and are almost none existing on weekends!

I've not even got a driving license.

I've done ok.

@PinaColada123456

Never, never, never, never, never. Never! My car is my life. My lifeblood, my wheels, my access. My life. I don't think much of people that haven't bothered to get their licence (illness exemptions don't count obviously).

I don't think much of twats that say shitty stuff like this.