The year without a car

As you may remember, a year ago we sold our Mini Cooper and officially became a "one car family." (That's a thing). I was thinking about this on my commute home on the MARC train last night, and realized that I've lived a full year and a month without a car. I figured it was about time for an update.

Overall, being a one-car family has been an afterthought—meaning that we really haven't noticed it. We've saved money on not paying insurance and an extra car note (as well as gas and maintenance), we don't have to worry about parking two cars off the street when we only have a one-car garage, and we're doing our small part for the planet. Win, win, win.

With my public transit commute and my train station a short walk from our front door, the fact that I don't have a car is all but lost on me the whole workweek—with only a couple of exceptions. Once, Bogdan was out of town on a business trip and I missed my train home, so I had to take the bus. Unfortunately, the bus drops us off at a bus station that is about 3 miles away from our home and there's no sidewalks—smart city planning. That day I called a cab. The only other time this happened I took the city bus home from the bus station (which, ridiculously, takes about 45 minutes). Yes, those were inconvenient situations, however even if I had a car of my own, chances are I wouldn't have driven to the bus station those mornings, so I'd be in the same predicament.

On weekends we don't use the car too often, and when we do, we're doing something together, like driving to D.C. or going shopping. The one thing that has changed is that we now go to the grocery store together. Before we sold the Mini I was a little apprehensive about this—I really used to enjoy my grocery time alone. Now that we shop together, I find that we save money (Bogdan is really good about asking, 'do we really need to buy that?') and we end up eating healthier (Bogdan also reminds me 'do we have any veggies for salads?'). I've also noticed that our time spent in the grocery store has decreased because we split up the list and finish faster. Of course all of this could be eliminated when I learn to drive stick (yes, it's been a year, and no, I have not learned it yet).

Here are a few things we've learned being a one-car family and ideas I have:

1. Frederick could really work on making the city less car dependent. Yes, they have done a great job having a train station in Downtown Frederick that goes all the way to DC, however as I mentioned before, the other options are limiting. It would be nice if there was a shuttle from the bus station to downtown (that didn't take 45 minutes to go 3 miles) so that when people miss the train (and there are only 3 trains that go to Frederick in the evening) they have a quick way to get Downtown. There could also be a bike path or a sidewalk that would make walking/cycling a safe option. I would not mind walking 3 miles, it's not that far and I would love the exercise, but I won't walk on a busy highway with no sidewalks.
   
2. We should really have Zipcar here: If you've never heard of Zipcar, it's a car sharing company that offers city dwellers quick and easy access to cars when they need them. They have zipcar stations around the city and members rent a car online, show up to the station, "unlock" the car they rented, and go. It would be awesome to have a station in Downtown Frederick and at the Monocacy bus station.
   
3. Going green (and car less) can be tough: I think most Americans equate car ownership with independence because it's a reality that in the majority of areas and cities we really have to own a car to get places. It's a sad fact that most people do not have the option of being car-less (or even owning one car for a family) because the way cities are laid out, the lack of sidewalks, the spread out nature of our shopping areas and subdivisions make it so that people cannot get to work, school, stores, or anywhere else without a car.

I think that in this area, with the way our jobs are set up and the public transit options we have, being a one-car family really works for us. How long will it last? We're not sure because life changes, situations change, jobs change, but for the past year we've enjoyed the downgrade.