nostalgic

I've been car-free as of April of this year. I live in the Phoenix area and got word today that the buses are going on strike tomorrow. The bus I take to school will no longer stop in my area.
At first, I got the feeling inside that I should not have sold my car. I immediately felt helpless and hopeless. But I didn't factor in the fact that the weather will be cooling down soon, and I have my cruiser bicycle. The roads here are flat pretty much everywhere, so my cruiser works great. I was riding my cruiser before the weather got so hot, so now I can ride again.

What I'm discovering is that I do prefer to be car-free, yet my mind is still programmed to go into fear when I think of travelling without a car. My main fear is that prospective employers will not hire me if they find out that I use an alternate mode of transportation. I currently do have work, but I need tips on how to combat these fears.

CarFreeFam4

I know the feeling. We were carless for over a year before we finally realized that we loved it and starting calling ourselves car-free. When we totaled our car two years ago, we decided that we wouldn't replace it until we'd gotten a handle on our debt. We definitely saw this as a temporary situation, and was something we were just tolerating. Then November of last year, a friend gave us her old car when she got a new one. We thought we'd hit the jackpot! No more needing to panic about not having a car for this or that, I had more job possibilities (or so I thought). Life was going to be great!

Well, three weeks later we realized just how much we missed being car-free. Suddenly our lives were feeling hectic and we weren't spending as much time together as a family. And wonder of wonders, all those old money troubles came back. It wasn't just the cost of operating the car, although there were a lot of repair bills in three weeks! We suddenly had the 'freedom' to run off to a distant store whenever we wished. We weren't home as much, so we were eating out more. We parked the car for a month before making any permanent decisions, and after that month, we decided that being car-free was the choice we wanted to make. We donated the car to charity and haven't looked back!

Platy

That's one good thing about bikes, they aren't prone to random shutdown by strikes. Can you get by for a few days on your bike, without having to use the bus?

nostalgic

Yeah I can. This strike has actually energized me. I spent this summer riding the bus instead of my bike because I have yet to learn how to cycle in the blazing heat. But now the weather is about to cool down. I'm thinking about buying a mountain bike as well, so I can get around a little faster.

I realise now that I was still living under the car dependent mindset this summer. It's easy to get dependent on something that can haul you around. But I need to crack down and really get independent.

Dahon.Steve

This is a great story. Thanks for sharing.

Dahon.Steve

I suspect millions of people are driving for the same reason. Fear of public transit. Fear of what others will think they are poor. As a result, people are bankrupting themselves with this motorized lifestyle because of unnecessary fear!

I depend on the bus to take me to work each day. However, if there was a bus strike, I would have no trouble riding my bike to work if necessary. Unfortunately, the majority of those who are carfree will not ride a bicycle for transportation because of fear which is why many will eventually use all their savings and dump it motor transport.

Roody

I think those fears go away gradually. Each time you meet a new crisis or challenge without the car, your confidence will grow and your fear will die away.

Roody

Fantastic story! I'm glad you shared with us.

folder fanatic

I have "survived" (if that is the proper term) several bus/train strikes since the 1970s. Each time with the help of a bicycle. And I found out that any type of bike was able to substitute for a car-with gears or no, upright position or not, purchased new or used, etc. The most important thing to remember is to keep the bike in optimal condition with new or somewhat new tires that were never compromised much (have flats that have been fixed), lubricated, and not abused.

I always prefer to own my utility bikes myself as I prefer to maintain them and have full access to them whenever I want. Anything that is publicly "shared" and operated by others (public transit, public parks, public libraries) is subject to their own whims or high demand making none available for use by me (i.e. strikes, man made or natural disasters, etc.).

I live in Southern California all my life and I have yet to learn how to "deal" with the heat here. Last week it was the highest recorded temperature ever at 113! I learn to stay out of it as much as possible. And yes, extreme temperatures is one of the reasons I do drive. Or only cycle, walk. or skate in the mornings or late in the evenings.

Here are my own transit fears and how I deal with them:

• Fear Of Public Transit
• Solution: Use of privately owned ones to the best of my ability-privately own or one-person-use-at-a-time rental or shared plan car, bikes, skates, and yes even walk.
• People thinking I am poor.
• Solution: I am! I fell out of the middle class ages ago when the jobs started streaming overseas. I just let others know I am not alone anymore-and look them straight in the eyes & sweetly smile.
• Fear Of Traffic
• Solution: I live in right in the middle of the Los Angeles area, I really better get over it!

The last transit strike here (2003) make me realize that a regular bike would be even more quickly stolen. So....The World Of Folding Bicycles was created out of this event. And continues to this day (see below).

RandomExeter

I usually assume that people chose the mode of transportation that best suits them, and generally people don't take public transportation for very simple reasons: it just doesn't meet their needs, and is usually slower than personal transportation. For instance, despite the fact that there is a Metra station quite literally 300 feet away from where I work, and another on the same line about 20 minutes' walk or 5 minutes' bike ride from where I live, I drive an F-150 to work (~10 miles, 20 minutes), and I do so because any given day I might be going to locations 20 to 50 miles from my office, hauling anything from survey gear to bags of cold patch to the occasional 6' wide construction sign that some contractor left on the roadside long after the work was done, and the company I work for is just too small to warrant getting a company truck (much cheaper to just pay mileage to the employees). Did I need to get the F-150? No, I had done perfectly fine with a PT Cruiser for seven years... minus that I couldn't do anything about those stupid road signs (hard to fit one of those into anything that isn't a truck)... but worrying about what other people who would be on the same train as me might think of my financial status wasn't anywhere on my list of why I went with the F-150 (the ability to move lots of stuff, or fairly large stuff, on the other hand, was).

I also would think that biking in general would be faster than public transport, especially when you consider that buses in particular will make multiple stops along their routes in addition to the normal traffic stops (assuming anyone bothers to take the bus). I would not be surprised if it were faster to bike-commute from this suburb of Chicago that I live in INTO Chicago, about 30 miles, than it would be to take any train that isn't an express (well, that might be a stretch... depends how fast you pedal).

kralizec

Well the bikes might not go on strike, but the rider can!

Dahon.Steve

There was a similar strike in London today. It's amazing the number of people dependant on buses spent hours trying to board packed vehicles!

The union are fighting for hundreds of jobs. This recession continues to effect tens of thousands of transit jobs are being slashed. The one hit the hardest are the carfree as road construction and repairs are funded at 100%. Cities across the world have balanced their budgets on the transit user and I see no change. Incredible.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...=feeds-newsxml

folder fanatic

Unless I am mistaken, the strike in London is just for 24 hours. Hardly a real strike like the ones we have where I am. How about for 5 weeks like the last one in 2003 in Los Angeles. With nothing running, far more pushy people jamming anything, and far more larger car dependent area, and you will experience what a real strike is all about. And the last one was over union solidarity, not so much wages or benefits.

B. Carfree

I live in a small city that is unbelievably bike-hostile. The last time we had a bus strike (about four years ago) was fantastic for two reasons. First of all, the bus drivers are among the most anti-bike motorists on the road here and they weren't behind the wheel for two weeks. Secondly, the carcissists were much better behaved during the strike than ever. I think they thought those of us on bikes were only riding because the buses weren't running, thus we weren't part of that evil cycling crowd they are always complaining about. I kind of wish the union had held out longer.

Dahon.Steve

You misunderstood.

I know the strike was only 24 hours but this was only symbolic since the union knows the layoffs are going to happen and there is nothing they can do. This was only a moral victory and nothing more.

I did a search and was shocked at all the stories all over the nation with transit companies eliminating weekend service altogther and entire lines. I find the Pittsburgh cuts to be especially hard on the carfree since they are eliminating an incredible 35% of all service! Hundreds of transit jobs are going up in smoke adding to the already high recession. What is going on??

I just cannot believe the shortsighted minds who are cutting transit because they don't want to raise any taxes to pay for it. This will add to more unemployment as those who lost their bus will not be able to work. Retail will suffer as those without weekend transit will buy on the internet. It's just a race to the bottom.


https://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/...-more-bus-cuts

https://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/se...pitt-s08.shtml

https://seattletransitblog.com/2010/0...are-increases/

Roody

You are so right. Buses will never pay for themselves unless they EXPAND service and pick up full fare riders who use the bus on a daily basis. They must provide reliable and consistent service that is almost as fast as driving before they can start showing a profit. This will require long range planning and increased subsidies in the interim. Thyis is happening only in a few cities (such as--thank goodness--my own). Most cities are letting their bus service go to hell--giving up long range profitability for short term savings.

One bus in Lansing lets off an average of 6 to 12 riders at a discount store, and a similar amount at a shopping mall across the street. Since this bus runs every 10 minutes, that's an enormous volume of shoppers--something like 500/day for each stop--and a lot of cars taken off the road in this high traffic area.

gerv 

You know, businesses should know how their customers show up at their door.. you think forward-looking businesses would see the potential for increased sales without having to add more parking.

If the businesses don't see this, there is an advocacy opportunity here...

akohekohe

One positive thing about a bus strike - no buses spewing diesel fumes and pulling into bus stops right in front of you. I also get the added satisfaction of riding in the bike lane past all the cars who are backed up because of all the extra traffic.