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I currently am only reliant on my car for weekend transportation.
I commute weekly by air so could get a taxi rather than drive to the airport. At the weekends I tend to use the car to get to where the good trails are. I used to drive over 20k miles a year now it is I guess under 10k.
I could reduce my personal car usage to zero by using taxi's and not riding my bike in nice places at the weekend. This is not going to happen because it would make my life miserable and I don't have to.
I make my annual cost about £3k so that's about right. For balance though how much is public transport subsidised? Those buses and trains don't run on hopes and dreams.
Its all about the choices you make.
Yep, I chose to live rurally and because of that I need a car.
When I first moved I didn't but then the 07:15, 08:00 and 09:00 buses were all removed with only bus now being at 11:00. So I guess other people make choices for me too....
We do about 8000 miles a year in our car.
We both work quite locally so bike/ walk to work most days; although occasionally we drive part way then walk. We try to get the kids to school and nursery by cycling/ walking most days. I took the youngest to today on a child seat and on Tuesday I took the eldest to school on the tagalong.
We try to have a car free day every week; sometimes its 2 or 3 days a week.
I consciously try not to use the car too much, but its not always possible. One thing I find quite sad is people driving kids to school/ nursery when they live less than a mile or two away. We have people on our road for example who are work at home/ stay at home parents and they drive their kids to school.
The other thing that annoys me is virtually all traffic jams are made up of single occupancy vehicles; long-term there needs to be some kind of shift away from this, but I'm not sure how.
Our car costs are this; cost £8k (7 years old now), tax £15 p/m, fuel £55 to 75 p/m + mot/ service (£150 to 250).
As my car bit the dust 2 days ago, I can say VERY. I had planned to run my car through til at least spring/early summer next year.
I live 20 (motorway) miles from work, and she works similar in the opposite direction. I do have the option of a train about 15/20 mins walk from home and 35 mins walk from work, but she doesn't. I have done it on a bike once but my FS with nobblies isn't really a commuter and the roads aren't that nice. Last half is canal path though with only one mucky part.
Luckily for me my 6 mths pregnant partner just upgraded her car and we still hadn't sold her old one. I'm taking that on and going to run that through til sometime early/mid next year.
Also luckily I (now) get roughly fixed bonus every six months, plus sometimes extra at christmas. First one due at the end of this month.
Had this been 3 months ago when my financial situation was less certain I'd have fixed the car (which costs more than its value). But as I've got the bonus's coming (and had a pay raise) I'm grateful to be in a more flexible position.
So I've made the decision to a) not fix my car as repairs cost more than its worth b) not spend what i do have (about 2/3rds towards the car I want once the bonus comes in) and stick with a known quantity and proceed roughly as previously planned, just with a different car.
of course, its very important for me to have a car because I live on the coast away from any hills and drive to them to ride 🙂
id say not at all. ish...
we both live and work about 3 miles away. Its great. Still drive.... in seperate cars!!!
the issue is if i need to pop out somewhere i can. If i want to go to a trail center i can. when we only had one car we had to make a choice and i lost.
tjagain - Member
I have however made decisions in my life that mean this works for me. turning down jobs that were too far from my house to cycle to
That's not strictly true though, there was the time when you worked at a nursing home in Tranent and commuted by motorbike. Then you bought a scooter for commuting.