Are all your car trips really necessary? Tell the truth

[taterguy]

I understand the “There’s no employer or grocery store within 30 miles of my house” responses that inevitably show up here when people suggest avoiding automobile usage as a means of protesting oil wars.

What about the other trips you take in your car? What about when you need a six pack from the convenience store or a burger from a fast food joint. What about when you’re going to the local anti-war march? Is a car really your only and best option? I’m not suggesting that people abandon their cars completely. I realize that goes over like Boy George at a Klan rally. I’m just suggesting that people stop and think before automatically choosing their car. If you don’t have a physical disability and you’re not capable of riding a couple miles then quite frankly you need to be in better shape. It’s none of my business but I suspect your family and other loved ones would like to have you around as long as possible.

I just can’t figure out why progressives are so resistant to cutting back on auto usage. The parking lot at my town’s Earth Day celebration was overflowing with cars. I honestly don’t get it. The explanations of ‘it’s too far’ and ‘it’s not safe’ don’t make sense to me since at least there are places that I safely ride to on a daily basis and the area where I live has absolutely no amenities for cyclists. I don’t think there’s anything unique about my physical reality, just my mentality. Is there something wrong with me? I’d like to know.

[Warpy]

1. I use the car when I have to go a long distance

or I need to haul a lot of stuff. Ordinary grocery store runs are done on my electric moped.

I live near a university so all strip malls and most single stores have bike racks.

I just wish I were healthy enough to use regular bicycle.

[derby378]

2. I'm trying to cut back out of both sheer necessity and social responsibility

There's no reason for me to take the car on a trip every single night just to run up to a fast-food restaurant to get us some supper. We're trying to make fewer trips by just stocking up at the local supermarket. Maybe if we want fast food bad enough, I can walk a three-mile round trip to get it.

But $3 for a single gallon of gas is abominable. For some people, it's a finance wrecker.

[taterguy]

6. Food is easy to carry on a bike

Just last night I got take-out for two from the local Indian place. It easily fit in my standard back pack.

[derby378]

48. Therein lies the dilemma...

I have no bicycle. And I live on the third floor, no elevators.

But maybe I can work something out. I always enjoyed riding on a ten-speed when I was younger, and it would give me some much-needed exercise to get on a bike once again.

[hippiechick]

3. I only drive back and forth to work ...

... stop along the way for errands, groceries, etc.

I don't tend to make 'unplanned trips' but if I do need something from the grocer, the library, Target, etc - they're all within 2 miles from home and I walk (my dogs love going on our neighborhood adventures!) unless its raining or snowing.



:hi:

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. I don't own a car

:hi:

When I need to go somewhere, I walk or take the bus (Most buses in Seattle run on electricity, supplied by hydro-electric power. Those that don't run on bio-diesel.) The rare times I need a vehicle, I borrow one from my coop, FlexCar. But at $10 an hour, I try to need a vehicle as little as possible.

[Kurovski]

37. Same here.

No car, and never owned one.

[snappyturtle]

5. My days of living in the northwoods taught me a lot.

I lived in northern MN 60 miles north of Brainerd or an hour's drive south of Bemidji....either way these were the closest cities. Three lady firends and I would sometimes carpool to these towns but they were all day outings and I couldn't afford that much time from work to get essentials while they potsed around. So, I had what I called my 'Brainerd List'. As I ran out of items or close to it I wrote it down. These lists would go on for a month to six weeks....in the meantime I had to learn with make do. It wasn't so hard. It saved me time, gas and money. Even though I live only five miles out town now I do not go unless I have at least three stops to make. I should add I work at home which is the biggest help of all!

edit-spelling

[kickysnana]

7. Yes

But it is not always easy and I have been accused of being miserly by my kids. Very low income and environmentally conscious. I combine weekly shopping and trips along the route I take to visit my homebound mother. Yesterday I tried to get n dental appointment a month in the future for a specific day I needed to be at my mothers. They couldn't do it. Now I have to decide if I will be a pest and keep calling looking for a cancelation. I cannot take the bus to my mother's or the dentists office. I looked, believe me.

[mike_c]

8. many of the folks who maintain that they absolutely have no other choice...

...will suddenly find some other choices when they have to, i.e. when they cannot afford to drive their cars as much. Hopping into the car to run an errand or just to go someplace else-- who still remembers when "going for a ride" was cheap family entertainment?-- is so deeply ingrained into our culture that most folks still can't imagine any real alternatives. They will begin to when the basic truth about energy availability begins to affect them personally, not just in terms of the price of fuel going up, but in terms of fuel being unobtainable at a price they can afford.

[AllegroRondo]

9. I admit we've cut back a lot lately

now its just drive to and from work, and if we need anything from the store its either picked up on the way home or consolidated into one trip in the evening.

our "convenience" store is about 1.5 miles away, so I'll run there (yes, on my feet) if we need something right away.

[ramapo]

10. No

Some car trips border on the absurd. For instance, driving five-to-ten miles one-way to visit a diner or certain fast food establishment. We can get bad food within a one-mile radiius of the house but sometimes you just have to go somewhere else for your bad food.

Our town is decidedly pedestrian and bicycle unfriendly, yet it is possible to park your car and walk a block or two to complete a couple of errands. I do so routinely but few others do likewise. Most get in their car to drive across the street.

Parents drive their kids down the street to their friend's house. Walk to school? No way. There is a groundless fear of predators and the like.

How about this summer's concerts for global warming. The vast majority will drive their SUV to attend.

I was in Manhattan yesterday. You can find no more absurd a place for the automobile yet I confess to having driven there. Despite the obvious inefficiency, the standstill traffic belching pollutants into the air, the alternative mass transit is a slow and often painful method of transportation, especially off-peak. Yes I could've driven to the train but my trip time would have been probably three times as long.

The easy reliance on the automobile has become deeply ingrained in the population. I have no doubt that this must change but have no idea how or when this might occur.

[madinmaryland]

19. I worked in NYC for about 8 years, while living in CT and

I only drove into the city twice! Though I did have to drive my car to the train station, until I moved close enough to walk (about a mile).

[quispquake]

11. We do VERY few unnecessary drives...

I live 35 miles from work (small town of 800) in Maine. I did get a Focus that gets around 35MPH, so I use a gallon each way. Otherwise, groceries once a week (30 miles round trip), and that's about it...OCCASIONALLY we do a few hours of yard sales, but tha's pretty rare...Other than that, not a heckuva lot...

[Squatch]

12. Why is everything we do measured against necessity?

[RobinA]

25. History

Our Puritan forebears. Even if you don't have the DNA in your genes, it's in the country's founding philosophy.

[pitohui]

31. because we are not allowed to enjoy our lives, that's only for the elites, you know

yes, i am bitter, i remember the 1960s and the sunday drive and the visiting of relatives just to go to church and eat lunch and hang out and then home again

we do lose something of our family and our friends when we can't afford to go anywhere unnecessarily, but people can get used to anything and we've gotten used to that

:-(

[taterguy]

47. My point is that cars are not the only method of going to places

Bicycles have tremendous range and I wonder why more people don't take advantage of that.

[gollygee]

13. We've cut back quite a bit

My husband has been riding his bike to work in good weather, and we have a grocery store and hardware store within easy bike-riding distance. We kept the little trailer my daughter rode in when she was smaller and we use that to tote things around with. When we do drive, we make sure to do everything we need to do in one trip rather than making a lot of small trips.

All you need to do is realize it's costing you an extra few dollars to buy something when you run out to get just that one thing.

[ChazII]

14. I do what I can

as I live 20 miles from work. I do my grocery shopping on my way home and if the meal that night is carry out, it gets picked up on the way home. I live where it is 90 degrees before the sun rises. My thinking is undoubtedly warped but the fact that I don't own a clothes dryer and therefore use solar power to dry my clothes, and hand wash all my dishes, should count for something.

It is good that you are doing what you can for your community and the planet. I for one, appreciate your words and your efforts. Which means I am attempting to answer the question you framed in the last paragraph of your post -- nothing is wrong with you -- imho.

[liberal N proud]

15. To and from work 5 days a week...

driving my daughter to her dance lessons
Shopping for necessities (usually done on the way home from work)
Travel to see my elderly parents in Iowa once maybe twice year. (3 people in car is cheaper than air fair to Iowa)
Travel to visit my daughter in Florida once maybe twice a year. (3 people in car is cheaper than air fair)

Yes I would say that I am only making necessary trips.

[fishwax]

16. not all of my car trips are at all necessary, but I drive much less than average

[no_hypocrisy]

17. I plan my errands en route to and from work and try not to leave the "path".

I map out the weekly errands at the beginning of the week, buy staples before they run out, and watch for sales. I have stopped the spontaneous run to the store for the proverbial milk, laundry, etc. That means a string of errands numbering from three to six in a row. I'm exhausted, but I usually don't drive more than a couple of extra miles added to my commute.

[azmouse]

18. No.

But I don't go out driving just for the dubious thrill of it. Not with Phoenix traffic being what it is and not to mention the heat this time of year.

[taterguy]

22. But it's a dry heat isn't it?

Sorry, couldn't resist

[Captain Hilts]

20. Nope. I've taken my bike a lot. I've always done this. nt

[AnneD]

21. I still take a few unnecessary trips...

trips I could have paired but I am very careful these days. I turn the car off at long waits at stops, long traffic lights, in drive thrus (I go to those less). I shop and pick up food on the way home from work. I am rethinking that long commute to my part-time nursing job and may quit soon.

Getting in my car is a conscious act any more, not a right.

[sakabatou]

23. I carpool and take the bus

I can't drive for now because of my medical issue. So, I guess it is somewhat necessary.

[Sanctified]

24. I ride my bike for a lot of things but for some things I can't

Like my job, certain grocery shopping and any family events.

[RobinA]

26. Every Trip

an absolute necessity. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

[Marrah_G]

27. I drive to work and back (10 miles)

I do my shopping on the way home, I do random pick up or drop off of kids at school events, etc, and 1 or 2 times a month I travel 80 miles each way to my friends home. Yes I could probably skip that, but I need a life once in a while too.

I would guess I average about 150 or so miles a week.

[pitohui]

28. you are out of touch with economic reality

the days of sunday drivers ended in the early 1970s, who can afford to take ANY unnecessary drives? i don't recall taking a drive to pick up a fast food burger since MAYBE the early 80s, if that recently

i'm glad you and everyone you know is so well-to-do that they can afford to go driving just to pick up a sixpack but here on planet reality wages have been depressed for decades and drives have had to be consolidated for decades, there is simply no money to spare -- i guarantee you that most of the folks you see at drive-ups at bank, fast food, convenience stores etc. are on their way home/to from work or school, you know, little important shit like that, there is no time out of the day to make "extra" trips for nonsense

you ask: Is there something wrong with me? I’d like to know.



i mean, come on, ask a stupid question -- YES, there is something wrong w. you, you have no idea of how close many of us are to the economic edge, if you think regular people can afford to drive around just for the heck of it seriously dude you need to get out more and get away from the spoiled college kids

add to it that i'm aware of several people over the years just in my general area, including a co-worker of my husband, killed while biking, and the perps never caught or prosecuted, and i'd have to say that you just don't live in the same reality vortex -- this is a gun and car culture, and it is dangerous to allow yourself to be isolated in a slow-moving, unprotected vehicle, especially so i'm thinking for a woman, i only bike to errands during the day and yet i am still harassed by freaks who assume that any woman on a bike or on the street and not in car is a whore in need of their money and attention -- it's pretty clear that society believes that only losers bike and you will get no protection from cops or society if you're hurt

ironically, biking for rich people -- on trails that don't get you to the grocery store or to work -- is heavily promoted -- biking for real people, with bike trails to actual places you need to go and places to safely secure your bike, forget about it

i really can't afford not to have a car, when it comes down to where the rubber hits the road

oh and average rainfall here is 60 inches a year, with many other days of humidity at 90 to 100 percent, so there's that, being a social pariah because you're wet and you stink if you bike for most of the year

[uppityperson]

29. Of course not.

I have always tried to be watchful, and am being even moreso, but every car trip is not absolutely necessary, though some are only for mental health.

I went to the grocery store/mall last wk. Picked up an item from store on 1 side, walked across lot to store on other side, then walked back to my car. I felt guilty that I'd left my car taking up a space in front of store A while I went to store B, but damned if I'm going to start up the car, drive 50 ft and repark it. I decided I'd start parking away from the front of all of them, so people who wanted to dash in and out could have close places.

Sometimes I drive somewhere to get something, or not, simply because I want to, it helps fight being depressed. Of course I feel guilty, but still. And yes, I am definitely combining trips, watching it more.

[taterguy]

32. When I need retail therapy I just hop on my bike and go buy stuff

My sincere question is why don't more people do this? At least where I live. The climate's moderate. What's holding them back?

[uppityperson]

33. sometimes I do too, sometimes not

Depends on how far, what my health is, what weather is doing. We all do different things. I have a big veggie garden (finally again) so I don't have to go buy them, and chickens for eggs, meat. So I contribute less to those industries. We all do different things.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

30. Absolutely They Are, Because If I Find It Necessary Than It's Necessary.

Unless you are referring to the actual specific definition of 'necessary', such as necessity; in which case the argument turns silly to me because in reality just about NOTHING else is necessity except for food, water and shelter. So if we were going to get all specific and stuff, then no car trip is necessary, no cooking gas is necessary, no heating fuel is necessary, no lights are necessary, no computers are necessary, no trains are necessary, not much of just about anything is necessary.

As you can see, that argument would turn really silly really quickly. So I can only assume you weren't meaning necessary in a specific sense. So in that lighter sense then yes, my car trips are really necessary, simply cause I say so.

[uppityperson]

34. Exactly.

[RaleighNCDUer]

35. I average between 350 and 450 miles each month, and bicycle to

work at my primary job - have to drive to the secondary because in these parts you take your life in your hands biking on most roads.

My 3 month/3000 mile oil change is a little overdue - it was supposed to be about a thousand miles ago, in july 06. I really need to get around to it.

But even at that, probably 10% of my driving is not really necessary.

I'd like to get my hands on one of those WW2 rationing stickers - "Is This Trip Necessary?"

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

36. well alrighty then

I think it's just ingrained in Americans that driving a car is a god given right no matter how ridiculous it is. I have a relative who gets in her car to drive to work and she works TWO FUCKING BLOCKS away from her home. Seriously.

Personally, I don't own a car and walk everywhere I need to go. On the rare occasions that I need something from a place that isn't within "comfortable walking distance" (half an hour away) then I will take public transportation. It's kind of a pain to have to adjust what you are buying based on what you can carry, but I survive.

[Javaman]

38. I take the bus only now. and have gotten my driving down to once a month.

aren't I so special. LOL

[Javaman]

39. Sometimes I wonder what will happen to the people who

absolutely must drive (they live a million miles from their jobs, etc) when gas hits 5 to 6 bucks.

It will be interesting to see.

[Posteritatis]

40. Every one of my zero recent car trips has been necessary

...If just because I don't have one.

Then again, public transit around here's pretty nice (and I live on one of the main routes), and I worked myself up to considering "anything within an hour's walk" to be "walking distance" over the years.

[maxsolomon]

41. of course not

i drive to the grocery - i could walk, its a mile. but its a crappy grocery & i buy heavy things, like 5 lbs. of cottage cheese. most times i carpool to work, but sometimes i drive alone if i have a meeting across town. i drive to see my shrink. i drive to trailheads to hike.

i have cut back on my auto usage, but i won't eliminate my car. here's my rationale: that petroleum is going to be burned up with or without me, and i might as well help get it over with ASAP. plus, driving can be fun.

i didn't say it was a defensable position.

[stray cat]

42. Some of us can't afford to live in the same county where we work

[dave_p]

43. No

... but we're 45mpg, and most trips are just a few miles, and there's no bus, and... and it's just so convenient. If there was a bus we'd certainly use that instead, but I can understand people being afraid to in unsafe areas: I've been there too.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

44. Yes.

The heat and humidity here is unbearable, and the drivers run over the bicycle riders. They literally don't even see them. Or hassle them if they're women, as seen by a post upthread. Even walking can be dangerous because of lack of sidewalks, besides the heat.

[leftofthedial]

45. no

[treestar]

46. It's more the way suburbia is set up

I would like to use the car less, but time constraints and distances make it impractical.

I would like to live in a city, though. Where you can walk to the corner store, that type of thing. The world was built for walkers up until the era when we went for suburbia - and that was based on that you'd have a car.

We need more flexible mass transportation, too. Cities have that where ironically, things are closer together.

We need to redesign the suburbs.