We are now entering our second week as a car-sharing household.
I’ll admit to experiencing more than a little trepidation before embarking upon our ‘grand’ experiment. It all sounded great on paper: save money. Save time. Be kinder to the environment. But would the theory measure up in practice?
My wife and I decided we wanted to save money and help the environment by running one car. We both work within a few miles of one another, so we could car-share during the morning commute. As we tend to finish work at different times, I would then travel the ‘return leg’ by bus.
Around the time we were considering our ‘one-car policy’, my brother’s beloved 13-year-old Ford began to misbehave. After some well-timed to-ing and fro-ing, we all agreed that he would buy our ‘two owners from new’ and save us the trouble of selling privately.
The reality of our decision didn’t really hit home until I dropped off the car keys with their proud new owner. I then realized that this was it: the last time I would drive my car. The last time I would enjoy the convenience of doing whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, without having to plan ahead. The reality hit home. I’d been spoilt. Taking transport-on-demand for granted.
However, I needn’t have worried. Our first week as a one-car family went eerily well – far more smoothly than I had dared to hope. No delays. No missed buses. No arriving late into work. No drama.
Don’t get me wrong. I hadn’t expected my bus to be held-up by highwaymen, but I’d anticipated at least some small deviation from our plans.
So, in reflective mood, I’ve spent some time during the past week thinking about some of the key benefits of bus travel (car-sharing), versus owning my own car:
6 Benefits of Commuting by Bus:
• Eco-friendly - travelling by bus and car-sharing have made a huge impact on our household eco-footprint. We’ve calculated that we are saving an average of 2.5 metric tonnes of CO2 per annum. This is based on a pretty average annual mileage of 10,000 – 11,000 miles. This is a conservative estimate for a mid-range car. Obviously, anyone driving a 4X4 or high-performance car could make an even greater carbon-saving. Being kinder to the environment is one of our primary reasons for losing the second car, so this CO2 saving is a genuine, tangible benefit for us.
• Cost Saving – commuting by bus costs a fraction of running and maintaining a car. Just think of all the money you spend on petrol, MOTs, servicing, road tax, car loans, repairs, etc. Seriously, do some sums. You may be surprised by how expensive even an average car is to keep on the road. We certainly were. This cost-saving is only likely to improve with rampant oil prices and insidiously increasing prices at the petrol pumps!
• Time Saving – travelling by bus is currently taking me an average of 25-30 minutes door-to-door. This includes walking time at either end of my journey. Previously, because my workplace has limited on-site parking, I had to hunt for a parking space in town, park up, and then walk for 10-15 minutes to my office. If anything, my daily commute has now reduced by nearly 30 minutes. This is extra time that I can now devote to the things that are important to me.
• Stress Levels – driving a car is an increasingly stressful endeavour. Travelling by bus is far less anxiety-inducing than battling my way through rush hour traffic by car and dealing with the inevitable bouts of road-rage from joe-public (including myself!). Instead, I can just sit back and let the bus driver worry about traffic, delays, diversions, and about trying not to collide with other road users. I get to relinquish control. I can read, listen to my iPod, or simply watch the world drift past the window. All very Zen. My return bus journey also acts as a natural buffer zone between the spheres of work and home, allowing me to decompress from the working day, and arrive home in a more relaxed state.
• Convenience – my nearest bus stops are just 2-3 minutes’ walk from my home and office, so there’s no long walk from leaving the bus to either final destination. My local bus company also allows customers to buy an e-travel card which can topped up with credit online, so I don’t even need to worry about having the right change for my fare. Thank you, internet.
• Social Cohesion – rather than being cocooned in my own car, I am now surrounded by ‘other people’ (yes, they do exist). Driving a car by yourself can be rather like living in a bubble. An invulnerable shell in which only the individual exists. The outside world melts away and takes on an abstract, surreal quality. On your own, shielded from the outside world, it’s all too easy to forget that you are part of a wider society and not somehow distinct from it.
Travelling by bus, on the other hand, I get to have a chat with the bus driver and listen to the background hubbub of passengers’ conversations going on around me. I am reminded that I am an integral part of a wider community, and that the world doesn’t just revolve around me.
Without getting too philosophical about it, I would argue that joining the bus-faring ‘commuter community’ helps foster greater social cohesion. Helping to promote a sense of mutual trust and understanding, whilst at the same time discouraging feelings of alienation, divisiveness, or an ‘us and them’ mentality.
In the short time I’ve been traveling by bus, I’ve already noticed that my fellow passengers are tolerant, polite and respectful of one-another. Not something I expected if I’m honest. Call me cynical, but I’ve not noticed an abundance of these fine qualities in the average motorist on the Monday morning commute!
And So…
I can fully sympathise with the view that car-sharing may seem like a trivial change to some. However, when you’ve become accustomed to owning your own car for so many years, to suddenly lose that freedom can feel like a much-loved security blanket has been yanked away by a cumudgeonly Aunt.
Instead, the past week has reminded me that I am a grown-up with the power to make positive changes in my own life, however modest they might appear to the outside world.
Vindication that it was high-time to cast off a security blanket that had outlived it’s usefulness, and which was beginning to ‘chafe’ somewhat.
It looks like Aunty knew best all along…
