Melbourne sans car #1: About this series, and the benefits of sans car
I’m planning on making a series of posts about living in Melbourne without owning a car, and getting around mostly by bicycle (or a combination of train and bicycle).
Topics for these posts will include:
- Benefits of not owning a motor vehicle
- Getting some wheels… Bicycle wheels
- Bicycling Melbourne safely
- Keeping your bicycle yours (anti-theft)
- Shopping by bicycle
- Commuting by bicycle
- Maintaining your bicycle
- Exploring Melbourne by bicycle
This first post is about the benefits I’ve found in not owning a motor vehicle.
Melbourne, for the most part, is a city where it is resonably easy to manage without owning a car, and there are so many positive benefits that I highly recommend trying it if you aren’t already living the good life sans motor vehicle.
Owning a car is pretty expensive. Firstly there is saving up for one or making repayments on one. Then there is the fuel, the registration, maintenance, insurance, and all the things people feel compelled to buy for their car like seat covers and new stereos and the list goes on. Not to mention the worry of it being broken into, hit, stolen… or the risk of you hitting something or someone.
Personally, I don’t see how the benefits outweight the costs.
Even if you feel you need a private car for some times of the year, there is the option of car sharing so you don’t have to pay the costs of owning your own vehicle. Perhaps you have a friend or family member who is willing to lend their car on the odd occassion you need to use it. There are at least three car sharing companies in Melbourne. You can also hire all types of vehicles if you require, for your holiday adventures, for picking up the occassional large item or for moving house.
Some benefits that can be had by ditching the car:
- Save money
- Less stress by losing the baggage a car brings, including traffic jams
- Lose weight and get fitter by more strolling to the shop or bus/train/tram stop or riding your bicycle
- Experiencing more of this great city by slowing down and looking at your surroundings (instead of zipping past in a car)
- More time to read, listen to music or podcasts, talk to friends
Your options for getting around are of course walking, cycling or catching public transport. Taxis and car sharing are also good for those small number of times when none of these options suit. Obviously, what option or combination you pick depends on where you are off to, the distance, the time of day, among other things. My personal preference is to get around on a bicycle for most journeys, and occassionally hop on a train with my bicycle for part of a journey when I’m heading a fair way out.
The next in this series will talk about how to go about getting a bicycle just right for you in Melbourne.
Feel free to share your experiences of living without a car, or reducing your car use, in the comments…
Unfortunately, it’s much faster and more convenient driving to your destination in most cases. If you are talking CBD then yeah a car is not worth it. But commuting via packed trams /buses to packed trains is a nightmare.
At the end of the day, if I have an hour saved by driving each day then I will drive. That’s 1 hour extra you can spend with your kids, wife, bed, playing sports, etc.
I guess everyone’s situation is a little different.
For me I like to think about whether you are able to count the time you spend travelling by other means as valuable time instead of wasted time. I don’t catch public transport at peak times, but ride instead, so I don’t have a lot of experience trying to read or study on packed trains, trams and buses. But I count the extra time I spend riding the longer distances as valuable as it’s my daily exercise, and that’s also a good stress reliever so it can count as a wind down. It’s also a good in to meeting new people, as other cyclists at your destination often say hi and chat about their ride or the weather.
My commute into work, and also the ride to where I study, takes almost the same amount of time to ride as it does to drive during peak times (which is when I’m typically making those trips) because of traffic that I don’t get caught up in as much and the lights keep turning red… and that’s over a distance of 10 kilometres for both. I will see the same cars over and over again as I ride along. But obviously cars can be faster in other situations. But its actually suprising how slow the average speed of a car drive through Melbourne can be at times.
I’m sure there are others who live a similar distance from their workplaces/unis as I do who’d have the same experience with riding, or would if they tried it out.
Have you tried taking the buses Neil? They’re never packed and passengers always get a seat. Living in the West – where bus companies ply popular routes via Footscray, Sunshine and Watergardens – and having the opportunity to work in the East (Doncaster), I’ve never had any problems with buses. They adhere to a strict schedule and partly because of the route they run (through major arteries) they’re never packed. Buses are there to service the crucial 30-40% routes that trams and trains can’t or won’t reach.
I gota say, I’m probably one of the few residents in Australia over 25 who still doesn’t know how to drive. I know driving is etched in the psych of Aussies, but having lived here four years I’ve never had the need to drive. Unless I’m visiting Greater Melbourne, I’ve always found public transport – however sufferable they are – to be adequate. If anything, public transport always gets me home/to work much quicker than driving.
Still don’t believe me? It takes me 30 minutes to get to Melbourne Central from the West, a 10 mins wait for bus 307 and it takes me another 25 minutes to get to Doncaster. That’s an hour to commute to Doncaster. Try getting to Doncaster in peak hour morning traffic in the same time.
Of course, my argument is flawed because I’m using myself as an example. :O