What Do You and Your Spouse Drive?

[PlatyPius 5]

no sidewalks here to walk or bike anywhere. I'd rather spend money on gas than wake up early to ride a bike somewhere anyways

It is illegal in many places to ride bikes on the sidewalk. Bikes are legitimate forms of transportation, and us such, are required to ride on the road.

I also thought that there are far more bike only lanes in Germany and the Netherlands along major roads. Here in Indy there basically is no such designation. I think they would laugh you out of the building to suggest it.

Probably not any longer... Have you been on the Monon Trail? It's so busy now that it's almost impossible to use at certain times of the day.

[Sister Fracas 5]

....hubster, 14 miles, 1 1/2 hours with bus change

1.5 hours to go 14 miles?? I'll stick with driving...even bicycling is faster.

Yeah cycling will work well when it's 20 below zero and snowing or 95 with 100% humidity like it was yesterday. Probably 20 minutes of his total time is on waiting for 2 different buses. Bus time is down time... we can read, listen to iPod, do a crosswork puzzle, he drinks his coffee, hubster sleeps for part of his journey....can't do that on a bike either. Neither of us are travelling on wide open country roads here. We are heading right into the busiest areas of downtown, and I tell you, once we get our express bus on to this mini highway of sorts, the cars aren't going any faster than us. On an average day he's still home between 5:30 & 6:00.

We don't have to pay for gas or parking, look for parking which is a pain, get parking tickets, pay for insurance, etc. There isn't anywhere in the city we can't get to by public transportation. If we want to leave the city on a short trip, we just borrow one of my folks' cars.

[Jenn! 918]

....hubster, 14 miles, 1 1/2 hours with bus change

1.5 hours to go 14 miles?? I'll stick with driving...even bicycling is faster.

Yeah cycling will work well when it's 20 below zero and snowing or 95 with 100% humidity like it was yesterday. Probably 20 minutes of his total time is on waiting for 2 different buses. Bus time is down time... we can read, listen to iPod, do a crosswork puzzle, he drinks his coffee, hubster sleeps for part of his journey....can't do that on a bike either. Neither of us are travelling on wide open country roads here. We are heading right into the busiest areas of downtown, and I tell you, once we get our express bus on to this mini highway of sorts, the cars aren't going any faster than us. On an average day he's still home between 5:30 & 6:00.

We don't have to pay for gas or parking, look for parking which is a pain, get parking tickets, pay for insurance, etc. There isn't anywhere in the city we can't get to by public transportation. If we want to leave the city on a short trip, we just borrow one of my folks' cars.

I wish I worked downtown so that I could take advantage of public transport. We're only about a 10 minute walk from the subway. After living for 3 years with no car, no car payment, no car insurance, no repairs, no tickets, no gas, I've come to realize that cars bring more trouble than anything!

Edited June 9, 2008 by Jenn!

[Sister Fracas 5]

....hubster, 14 miles, 1 1/2 hours with bus change

1.5 hours to go 14 miles?? I'll stick with driving...even bicycling is faster.

Yeah cycling will work well when it's 20 below zero and snowing or 95 with 100% humidity like it was yesterday. Probably 20 minutes of his total time is on waiting for 2 different buses. Bus time is down time... we can read, listen to iPod, do a crosswork puzzle, he drinks his coffee, hubster sleeps for part of his journey....can't do that on a bike either. Neither of us are travelling on wide open country roads here. We are heading right into the busiest areas of downtown, and I tell you, once we get our express bus on to this mini highway of sorts, the cars aren't going any faster than us. On an average day he's still home between 5:30 & 6:00.

We don't have to pay for gas or parking, look for parking which is a pain, get parking tickets, pay for insurance, etc. There isn't anywhere in the city we can't get to by public transportation. If we want to leave the city on a short trip, we just borrow one of my folks' cars.

I wish I worked downtown so that I could take advantage of public transport. We're only about a 10 minute walk from the subway. After living for 3 years with no car, no car payment, no car insurance, no repairs, no tickets, no gas, I've come to realize that cars bring more trouble than anything!

Sorry you are a slave to the car once again...

I really thought when hubster got here, we'd get a car, but it's just never presented itself as something we should even consider.

Edited June 9, 2008 by Sister Fracas

[Dr. Obvious 49]

Probably not any longer... Have you been on the Monon Trail? It's so busy now that it's almost impossible to use at certain times of the day.

Not really, but I don't live or work near it. What I mean by bike lanes is this:

Those are pretty common in most cities along major roads and even in smaller towns on main streets. They are normally two strips, one for bicycle traffic and another for pedestrian, but may also just be a multi-purpose paved strip on the side of the road. Don't step in the bicycle lane when it is marked.

Anyway, what I mean is that the sides of most major roads are created into pedestrian and biker friendly paths. The Monon Trail I am sure it is great, but things could be a lot better. It is hard to compare a place like Indiana to the Netherlands or Northern Germany where biking is built right into the infrastructure and is a strong part of the culture there. It is usually a supplement to the decent public transportation they also have there.

Edited June 9, 2008 by Wacken

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Public transport works good if the buses are full. Most of the time 6 ppl does not a load make! Very wasteful.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Public transport works good if the buses are full. Most of the time 6 ppl does not a load make! Very wasteful.

Agreed. It only works when populations are dense enough.

[Sister Fracas 5]

Public transport works good if the buses are full. Most of the time 6 ppl does not a load make! Very wasteful.

But the times the buses are packed to the gills with people smashed against each other and the doors, makes up for the smaller loads. That's why the quantity of buses and the frequency at which they run gets reduced during non rush periods.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

But the times the buses are packed to the gills with people smashed against each other..

That only happens when buses serve areas with dense housing.

[Sister Fracas 5]

But the times the buses are packed to the gills with people smashed against each other..

That only happens when buses serve areas with dense housing.

um, yeah... of course

[Jenn! 918]

A lot of people drive to the nearest bus or subway terminal and then take public transport from there. If we can't eliminate use of cars, we can at least reduce it.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

A lot of people drive to the nearest bus or subway terminal and then take public transport from there. If we can't eliminate use of cars, we can at least reduce it.

Agreed.

In my area, the big challenge is getting a permit to park your car at the nearest train station. It can take up to 3 years at some stations to get a permit.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Let’s look at the popular 2007 Honda Civic Sedan Hybrid and compare it to the nonhybrid version. The Civic Sedan’s average price is $17,760; the hybrid’s average price is $22,600, a $4,840 difference. Next we need to check the miles per gallon claimed for each car. The Civic Sedan gets 35 mpg, the hybrid 50 mpg. If the average person drives 15,000 miles per year, then the savings is 128.57 gallons a year, or $424.28 a year (assuming gasoline at $3.30 per gallon). Before we discount for the future, we see that it will take over 11 years to make buying the hybrid worthwhile. When we include a reasonable discount of 3 percent, the number grows to 14.5 years.

http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freema...le.asp?aid=8130

[Sister Fracas 5]

A lot of people drive to the nearest bus or subway terminal and then take public transport from there. If we can't eliminate use of cars, we can at least reduce it.

good point... a lot of people I know drive their cars to "park-n-ride" spots. Many of them come from suburbs where the train lines come into the city.

[Amby 490]

no sidewalks here to walk or bike anywhere. I'd rather spend money on gas than wake up early to ride a bike somewhere anyways

It is illegal in many places to ride bikes on the sidewalk. Bikes are legitimate forms of transportation, and us such, are required to ride on the road.

I should have made myself more clear because I meant that there are no sidewalks here to walk on and it isn't safe to bike anywhere. Who the hell bikes on the sidewalk?