How to Decide If You Can Live Without a Car

When I was a teenager, owning a car meant feeling like an adult and a sense of freedom—being able to hit the road whenever you wanted. As an adult, owning a car can seem inevitable: How will you get to work, buy groceries, or take the kids to school if you don’t always have tires in your driveway? Heck, this entire country was essentially designed and engineered for cars.

But owning a car sucks too. His ExpensiveFirst, the average cost of owning a new car these days is over $1,000 per month; On average, we spend about 20% of our family budget on buying, maintaining and driving cars. And traveling by car can be unpleasant most of the time and negatively impact both your physical and mental health.

This may make you consider ditching your car and giving it up. There are many benefits to getting rid of an expensive stress-reliever from your garage, but first you need to figure out if it’s right for you.

Is it possible to live without a car?

Before you do anything, you need to know whether it’s even a practical possibility to ditch the car. If you need to regularly travel to work or other places, there must be alternatives before you can give up your car:

• Public transport. Google Maps is a good starting point: connect all your regular routes and select a public transport option to see what your options are. Be sure to set your arrival time to accommodate your schedule. This will give you a good idea of ​​your options and how long they will take.

• Delivery. If you’re currently driving for groceries or other essential items, check to see if delivery options are available: directly from the company or through a third-party app or service.

• Car sharing and rental. Even if you have reasonable public transportation and delivery options that make it possible to avoid a car, sometimes you may still need a car. Whether you want to haul a load from the local hardware store or go somewhere that’s hard to reach by public transportation, check to see if there are car sharing or rental options that make sense. Having a car share service within a block of you is great in case you suddenly need to get somewhere quickly.

How much does it cost to live without a car?

If you have reasonable public transportation or other options for replacing your drive, your next step is to see if it makes financial sense:

• Public transport will generally be much cheaper than driving a car. For example, a monthly commuter rail pass costs on average $137.50, while a monthly bus pass costs about $55. Estimate how much you will spend on different types of public transport each month.

• Automotive promotions. Carpooling is a good idea for those times when you absolutely need to go somewhere. If possible in your area, add up these costs as well. For example, Zipcar costs $9 per month or $90 per year plus driving costs (which starts at $11 per hour and $91.50 per day, not including insurance). Peer-to-peer car sharing companies like Getaround have more variable pricing since car owners set their own prices, and traditional car rental agencies can vary widely depending on your location and rental time, so you’ll need to do a little digging to figure it out , how much will you pay if this is your only option.

• Delivery. Delivery services from grocery stores and other businesses usually charge a fee, so be sure to factor that into your calculations.

Finally, consider the time investment. Public transport is almost always much slower; one study found that public transport takes 2.6 times longer than driving. This is true even in areas with very strong public transportation systems: a trip from Hoboken, New Jersey, to Manhattan can take about 20 minutes by car, but about 40 minutes by public transit, for example, according to Google Maps. The car ride may suck, but 20 minutes of your life isn’t nothing. On the other hand, once you arrive at your destination, you will have to park the car, which can be a problem depending on where you are. Cars take up time for other reasons (maintenance, breakdowns, etc.) so you will need to look at your individual situation to see what your time cost might be if you stop using your car.

How walkable is your city?

If you’re dreaming of a car-free life, another thing to consider is whether you can walk or bike to places in your area. Looking at your city’s walkability metrics is a good start, and again, Google Maps can give you an idea of ​​how far you might have to walk to work (or if it’s even possible; Google won’t show you a walking or biking route, unless it’s safe). If you can ride a bike, you may want to consider using a cargo bike trailer to transport groceries or other items back to your home.

About 40% of all car trips in the US are three miles or less, which for most people is a distance that can be easily covered by walking or biking, but there are a few things you should consider:

• Your own physical fitness and condition. If you are physically unable to walk or bike several miles, traveling without a car may not be possible unless you have reliable public transportation.

• Infrastructure. Even if your surroundings are walkable or bikeable, if there are no sidewalks or bike lanes, or if your only possible route requires walking along busy highways, the dangers may outweigh the benefits of not having cars.