We own two cars, and I've been 'trying' for years to get back down to one. The obstacle is that I work days, and my wife works evenings (part time), we hand off kids in between. I tried bus, took way too long for me to get home in time. I considered scooter, concluded it was too dangerous with rear endings. Gave up for a few years and just drove.
Then MMM unknowingly kicked my ass into gear and made me realize that I could bike, at least part of the time. My commute is 9.3 miles (15km) each way, mix of path, bike lane, and curbside of road. I can park my bike in sight of my office, 100% safe from stealage. If I work hard, I can do the 9.3 miles in 33 minutes downill, 43 uphill to get back. Using a KHS Urban Express I got cheap on Kijiji, fitted with pannier on a rack.
I've been doing the commute by bike once a week, on average. Other days I wuss out because it is below freezing, too windy, raining, or I have to get home faster (I can drive in 15-20 minutes). I figure my savings is $6 every time I ride, based on a $.20/km full cost (see MMM article on this topic). I've probably just paid for the bike and gear I've bought, at this point. I also bike to do shopping or errands quite a bit, with the kids sometimes. I enjoy biking, but feel biking every day would be a big jump.
So now I'm stuck, still have two cars, and can't see a good solution. First obstacle is that I don't know if I could bike to work every day year round. This is Toronto-area, brutal cold and wind in winter, melting heat in summer. No showers at work. Carpooling not an option since I work weird hours to allow for wife's schedule. Can't change jobs yet, for various reasons. Can't move closed to work, housing too expensive. Plus we like where we live, and it's very bikeable. Solution - suck it up, get good gear and just do it. Sponge-bath at work on hot days.
Second obstacle is that even if I did bike every day, my wife has no option but driving for her work commute (and also doesn't make sense to change jobs or move), so I'd be car-less with kids who go to 3-4 lessons per week. These lessons are bikeable distance for me, but not for my 6 and 7 year old kids. They are too big for a bike trailer now. Solution - change lesson days or wife's schedule so car is available on days we go now. Both are definitely possible, but I'm a bit worried still about being at home with kids all winter with no car. Kids do bike errands with me in better weather, but would be hard on them in bad weather. This obstacle is still easier to resolve than the first, in my opinion.
Longer term solution is for wife to work days instead, and me run a business from home. She takes the car, and I don't need one. Easy. Totally possible, and will do it, but just not yet.
I might do a trial run with no car, see how it goes.
The payoff? This is Canada, so everything is more expensive than the U.S. By dropping the second car, we'd save;
$1,800/year in depreciation and repairs/maintenance (based on my long term accounting records)
$900/year in insurance
$1,000/year in gas
Nearly $4k/year added to the stash if I could do this! Never really added that up before, though I was aware of it below the surface.
Not really looking for solutions here, just putting all this down on 'paper' helps me see the obstacles and solutions better, but open to any ideas or comments regardless.
