Not having to spend money on insurance, maintenance, fuel, repairs, etc.
I save a huge amount of money compared to somebody with a car. HUGE.
All I need to pay for is a bus, tram, or train ticket, and I can easily get anywhere in the city with minimal walking time.
And heck, that's cheap. All the buses are capped at £2.00 regardless of the journey length, for example! Two quid!
There are a lot of other benefits too. For example, I don't have to worry that someone will nick my car, and I don't have to make sure I live somewhere with parking available.
Owning a car just seems like such a ball and chain, especially considering how fragile that relationship can be. One day everything's great, the next day boom, you need to fork out 2 grand for repairs, or maybe the car's just.... gone.
2 quid buses is amazing. Shitey First Bus doesn't even get me out of the first zone for 2 quid.
I agree with all of this and will add that personally it helps keep me even fitter as I cycle to work everyday and will cycle or skate depending on the distance to anywhere feasible.
The only downside is the adhorrent prices on the trains over here. The amount they charge is quite frankly disgusting!
Less stressful. I never have to worry about accidentally killing anyone, except for that time I bought worcestershire sauce because I didn't know it had anchovies
I lived in a walkable city for a decade and now live in a more rural area where cars are a necessity.
Now that I need a car, I need to:
As someone with ADD the extra responsibilites are stressful and often slip by me, not to mention the costs add up. It's also omnipresent in my mind that on any given day that I drive, especially on the highway, statistically that is the most likely way I will die considering my current age and health. I don't miss carting my groceries around in the snow or rain, and it's nice to be able to move large, heavy items relatively easily, but man I miss the freedom of just leaving my door and walking somewhere.
Growing up with cars as the norm, you don't realize how much it sucks till you list it out like that.
I've got wrid of my car 3 years ago. The benefits I've encountered.
On the occasions we need a car I rent one or use a car sharing service.
No need to concentrate when traveling. Public transport is nearly "brain off" time while I get whisked away to another place. Sure, it could be better and faster, but at least I don't have to pay a higher subscription to let my vehicle stand outside for 99% of its life.
You are forced to take your bicycle far more often. No excuses. You cannot just take the car whenever you feel lazy, tired or if the weather is mediocre. Your health will benefit from this a lot.
Money - a lot of people are not aware of the money a car costs over a period of time.
Dependency - you are only able to drive a car in a special time of your life. If you are too young or too old you are not allowed - or it is very dangerous - to be the driver of a car. There are places you are just able to go by car. This is a problem: they are just made for car people. For instance: malls outside a city. Nobody is shopping in the inner citys, while everybody have to take the car to the mall. This system needs a lot of good working roads, parking spaces and other infrastructure.
Health - in regards of physical activity or is a lot healthier to live in an area where you are able to take public transport. Due to the last mile, which you are probably going by bike or by feet, you get your daily "workout". Also you are emitting much less emissions into the air. It seems that particulate matter of the reason for a lot of illnesses of our time.
Public Space - you are consuming much less public space than people who are owning a car. Parking lots are in habitats of humans all around. They cost a lot of money, are sealing good soil and the precious space in city is wasted to it. There are such nice projects all around the world, where former parking spaces or streets where changed to spaces for everyone.
For me, the biggest benefit is the mental load I no longer have. I used to have to think about maintenance, MOT schedule, road tax scheduling, insurance scheduling, renewing my parking certificate, how much I drink, where I'm going to park, did I run out of time on the parking meter, is there traffic on my route, where are the road works...
The mental energy I'd waste just to deal with a car was massive. There's still mental energy with public transit, like what is the schedule and which bus do I need to be on to make it in time, and what do I do if a stop isn't near my destination, but it's a lot less mental load than having a car.
Where I live?
None.
You're trapped.
Fuck cars, but some (many) places force your dependency either through bad city & infrastructure design, or just because it's rural and hundreds of miles from the nearest city. In places that don't, I'd still own an old beater, but riding my bike around would be my primary.
In a dense city finding parking is a huge pain that can take half the time of the drive lol
"Not having to feed and shelter a cow for her milk" If i use expressionism. Car taxes , fuel prices and traffic is a huge problem where i live and i can use buses, metros and my own legs to go anywhere reliably.
No garage or parking space needed. No maintenance or renew license (car and driving) One thing less to purchase the accessories for. No gas and associated costs (toll, parking, etc)
If you are in not pedestrian friendly, bike friendly or good public transport, those benefits outweight the time necessary to go from one place to another.
Edit: add gas and car associated costs.
Having a few more drinks than you planned to when out because you took transit to get there.
Well, first and foremost, I guess the main benefit is saving a lot of money. If you use your car everyday to go to work and go shopping it can cost thousands of dollars where I live. Between the fuel, insurance, parking fees, mandatory yearly checkup (with possible repairs which are even more costly), the bill climbs pretty fast!
And it can be such a pain to drive a car in the city. Traffic jams, Red lights every 2 minutes (we all get that unlucky day), finding a free parking spot, waiting at gas station when there's a penury (they are bound to happen!).
Using a bike or simply walking is comparatively hugely cheaper obviously, but also quite less frustrating in urban areas at least.
More than everything else, peace of mind. No worries about the condition and repairs and maintenance of a $40K hunk of metal and glass, or about accidents, injuries, insurance, parking, the idiot in the other lane, the price of gas, or anything else.
My bus comes at 7:45, la-di-da. :)
Being able to look at your children in the eyes and knowing that you aren't contributing to the pollution they are breathing, to the traffic noise they hear while they are trying to rest, or to the traffic that puts them in danger every time they go out.
Future generations will judge us for the shitty legacy we have left them.
If I bought a car I would never be able to afford anything nice or fun again. We'd be behind on bills all the time and struggling to keep food in the fridge. Also, I'd be so stressed all the time, between stressful driving and being broke, I'd go nuts. Public transit gives me time to relax and watch a video or something on my way home from work too, which is nice. My only critique is that transit needs a wider range in my area. A train would be lovely.
Unfortunately it is necessary that I drive sometimes so I maintain my license and rent cars when I need them. It's mildly inconvenient and I don't always like walking out to the rental place, but life is so much nicer without a car. I also like knowing that I am doing my part to help the environment by walking and taking public transit.
Saving a fuck tonne of money. Between the financing, tax, MOT, petrol, parking and maintainable, I save thousands a year.
Better health. I walk about 2 miles total a day that I wouldn't if I had a car and drove to work. And then if I need to go to the shops or something that's either more expersise or I just don't buy the snacks I wanted. Plenty of people i know that drive will take their car to shops that are 5 mins walk away.
More "free" time. Since I don't have to focus on driving during my commute, I watch TV shows or movies, or play games (Currently binging Stargate and watch an episode each way on the commute, and beat the new Zelda mostly on the train)
Then the less tangible things like knowing I'm doing my fair share to stop climate change and encourage the government to invest in public transport.
Knowing I'm not repaonsible for kids growing up with respiratory diseases, knowing ill never get in a car accident and kill someone, whether due to my own negligence or not and have that on my conscience forever (my sisters husband killed a kid that ran infrint of his car. There was nothing he could have done, but he's still never been the same since)
And my mental wellbeing, my walk takes me through parks and woodland on one side and cute side streets filled with boutique stores and pop up art exhibitions on the other
Oh and I don't have to worry about my car when I go out drinking, or worry about it getting stolen or the catalytic converter being ripped out like my housemate does.
And probably a few other little things that I can't think of right now.
Using a bike in urban area instead: Cheaper, no dealing with traffic, no dealing with parking, healthier, better for the environment.
More money for other things
Economic, environmental and health. It’s always going to be a ton cheaper not to own a car that needs gas, maintenance and insurance, plus you generate less pollution in a myriad of ways, and by biking or walking places you obviously increase your personal fitness and health levels.
It saves money and nerves. Also, I have to ride my bicycle much more which is healthy
Well, by not having a car, I have almost enough money left over for a place to sleep, food, and internet.
People say you "need" a car to live, but really, you just need a car to maintain your lifestyle. But when something happens to your income, the first thing to go is the car. When you cannot afford to drive a car, suddenly your "needs" look completely different. Funny, right?
I think money is one.
But let’s turn it around; what’s the benefit of owning one? I guess it kind of depends on where you live and what other modes of transportation are available to you. But in my case, I live in The Netherlands, in a city. I can walk most distances, or use my bike when needed. For longer distances I use public transport.
For a while I did own a car though. My job was in a location not easily accessible using public transport. In that case it absolutely made sense for me to get a car. Saved me a ton of time, which was worth the money to me.
You are saving money, that's pretty much it. More exercise I guess too.
Less variables to place on your mental whiteboard.
It's much healthier if you live in a walkable city. Walking, cycling, even taking a subway and walking to the station and climbing stairs are all great for you. When I'm in a car-heavy city it starts to feel weird seeing people sitting at home, walking 10 seconds to sit in a car for a half hour, just to sit in a new place when you arrive.
Plus you can save so much money if you don't need a car. Walking is free.
Another benefit I only realized afterwards is discovering cool stuff around your city that you otherwise mightve never found if you just zip by in a car. I really enjoy finding weird holes in the wall and just popping in to see what's up.
Money
You never have to leave home.
I've always had a car since I was 18 years old, but my significant other stopped driving around a decade ago.
Just going from two cars to one has saved us thousands upon thousands of dollars in gas, maintenance, registration fees, insurance, and parking fees at apartments.
It's definitely not 100% because of not owning two cars, but it's certainly at least partially because we only own one car (that these days I don't even use on a daily basis) that we have bought and paid off our condo, and now have an extremely low overall COL in an extremely high COL area.
No one will ask you to help them move.
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