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What are the benefits of not owning a car?
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2023
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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.
Move to Vienna, 365 euros for all year day and night (weekends and public holidays) public transport. Half of it if your company pays the other half. And if you use Wien Energie you'll get some free days electricity on top.
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!
Sounds like you're lucky where you live. Where I lived in the UK there was no way you'd be able to get around with just public transport.
Only issue I have is folks should have a driver's licence, to be able to safely operate a car in an emergency or unexpected situation. Just to give you the option.
I understand it would be rare to need to step in as driver if you committed to this lifestyle, but it would be better to be safer than sorry
Do you mean safely operate a car, or legally operate a car? Learning the basics to safely operate a car is fairly straightforward and good fun, at least to a level that's on par with a typical licensed driver. However going through the whole process to get a formal drivers license is a different matter and is often quite expensive.
In many states you can train with a family member, and the application is 30-50 bucks. Not free, but you shouldn't operate a car without a license.
Colorado for example,
Complete a written test, complete several hours supervised driving, eye test, driving test, pay.
Could probably be done in a week then you're legal
I wasn't specifically talking about the US. The US has unusually low requirements, because when it's basically required to drive to participate in society, you have to set the bar low enough that the dumbest, poorest, most disabled, reckless idiots that definitely shouldn't be driving still do.
And yeah, obviously you shouldn't operate a car without a license except in emergencies, it's illegal. Is enforcement really that bad in the US that this needed to be said?