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ChineseOne Year Without A Car
As of today I’ve now lived a full year without a car. Now that might not seem like a big deal to an eleven year old but for some reason Zach Braff 20-somethings all over are blown away; not to mention the 30 and up crowd.
Yep, the last Friday of February exactly one year ago I exchanged a red metal burden for $1900, which I was able to use to pay off one other burden, which was caused by the first burden. Now I’ve still got burdens, we all do, but one of the biggest ones is now in the hands of a 21, 22 now year old (they grow up so fast) in Burbank.
So what comes of a year without an automobile anyway? Have I gone out less? Have I been trapped by the shackles of inaccessibility? Have my girlfriend and friends abandoned me for a new guy that can drive when they need to go to the grocery store four blocks away? Well—No, I can now go out and not ever have to worry about a designated driver. No, I can get anywhere I want/need to go by way of public transit and my feet and every once in a long while, zip-car (grrr). No, my girlfriend is now pretty much car free and I just meet my friends near the deli after they finally finish parking. Simply put, things have only improved.
Aside from the obvious financial burden of a car (monthly costs: insurance, $120 + parking, $90 + gas, $70 + and the occasional parking ticket and valet, $30, = $310/month, not including maintenance both big and small) I’ve come to actually enjoy my commute. Now I’ve definitely not enjoyed them all but I’ve enjoyed a great deal more percentage of them than I ever did when I was driving, a percentage that topped out at about 7 on a good month. Instead of angrily maneuvering and staring blindly at red brake lights and wondering what it’d be like to live in the roaring 20’s, I pick up the Great Gatsby and hand the stress off to someone that gets paid to deal with it. After finishing that I realize I’ve never read Moby Dick or much Hemingway, in fact I’ve not read a lot of books I want to read a first or second time. So over the last year I’ve indulged and continue to do.
When not reading I’m writing or sleeping or simply thinking without being shaken from my thoughts to accelerate 10, 20, or 50 feet. Hell even if you’re lucky enough to travel from one light to the next, or ten lights in a row, you’re still susceptible to that ever-fearful variable of other cars. Other cars and people getting out of them. Other cars and those same people pulling out blindly. Other cars running late on a yellow or right through a red. Other people driving those cars drunk or just tired and not paying attention because they’re dreaming of a better way to spend and hour or more each day. The answer they so desperately don’t want to hear is of course, public transit.
This brings up the issue of safety, which is a huge plus to getting rid of your car. As Fred posted last year and anyone can see here, the odds of dying in a private automobile are 1 in 237. While the odds of dying on a bus are 1 in 104,113 and on a train, 1 in 156,169. Not to mention the fact that motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 44.
I just rode by a 76 gas station where there’s a line that bumps the back end of a car out onto Olympic stopping traffic and causing a sea of horns to sound. The lady driving looks stressed and is cursing her dashboard. The people behind her are cursing their dashboards as well while the people standing at their cars pumping $3.70 85 octane stare and wonder what all the honking is about. Then the receipt prints out and as they tear it they’re reminded once again of their reward for presumed entitlement and minor social status. Another $50 and the nightmare of stopped steel for miles and miles.
It’s time you and your friends broke out. Spread the word and go car free.
Discussion
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Please keep discussions civil: exercise Troll Controll.
In the interests of full disclosure shouldn’t this be “One Year Without Owning A Car?” You’ve benefited from cars. You’ve benefited from not owning a car too. Excellent and balanced exposition but not exactly about getting along without cars as is implied.
As to the death rate. Rather than compare auto death rates to transit death rates consider the more comparable auto death rates in urban areas where transit operates.
Rob, death rate, death schmate. It’s always numbers with you isn’t it? I’m a HUMAN, not a STATISTIC. I feel SAFER in a bus then I ever do inside a car/truck/suv. I hate cars and the people that drive them.
Good for you Tyke! One of my favorite things to do on a bus is read and it seems like you do too.
Brian,
I RESPONDED to inaccurate numbers. Do you know the most common label for humans who ignore statistics? That’s right; victims.
You hurt my feelings and want others to consider yours? WTF? Keep your hate to yourself.
Tyke,
I completely agree with you on life being simpler without a car. I haven’t gotten ride of mine yet, but I leave it at home 4-5 days a week– I’ve been biking everywhere I need to go and I feel wonderful. It’s so true that life does get simpler when you don’t have to worry about a car.
I’m actually planning out the pros and cons of finally ditching the car and getting a ZipCard and this post only added to the already hefty “pro” side.
That’s what really pushed me to get rid of my car almost 3(!) years ago. I just never used it, and it seemed like such a waste paying for insurance, random parking, tickets, etc. just to have it sit there for the rare times I would use it.
Congradulations…on April 4, I also will have gone one year without a car. I am thinner, in better shape, more connected to my community, and absolutly loving it. If any one has a chance come check out Car Free Portland a world wide event which takes place in Portland Oregon this year. carfreeportland.org
I’m glad not having a car has worked for you but it’s not for everybody. Some people need their cars for work. They have to visit clients, make deliveries, or get to a meeting across town. Business doesn’t wait for public transportation.
Some people commute long distances, and while Metrolink has made this much easier in Southern California, its limited schedule means that if you don’t work a strict 9 to 5, you could be out of luck.
I enjoy going to work on Metrolink but I need that car when I’m scheduled to stay late. The last train out of Union Station on the Orange County Line is at 6:30PM.
Tokyo, New York, or Europe this ain’t. In those places living without a car is relatively easy, in some ways desirable. But this is Southern California, and though I certainly commend you for achieving what most are unwilling to do, there are many who can’t.
The built environment is all part of the car culture. It’s part of what we’re fighting against. It DOES make it very difficult to give up the car, but that’s the whole point. The car has been forced upon us as a necessity when it simply should not be so. Those of us who have given up their cars HAVE had to make sacrifices, but to us it has been worth it both on a surface level and on a deeper level of “what is right”. Long distance commutes are 100% car culture. There’s no reason we should have to live incredible distances from our work. It makes no sense. I’ve made cross town meetings, met with clients, and worked on delivering assets all without a car. It just takes a little ingenuity and flexibility. You’d be surprised how positive business clients (especially in faux-liberal Los Angeles) react when they find you’re 100% car-free.
technically, transit doesn’t work for anybody. we take a subway and have to walk a few extra blocks or even miles. we take a bus and get stuck in traffic. we have to transfer to other trains/buses/etc. we ride bike and have to suck in car fumes. it takes more time and effort to where we are going without a car - presently. whereas driving a car take you in a straight line from starting point to destination, simple.
the only difference between those who’se view is that it doesn’t work for them and those who do is that those who decide to make it work put in effort to make it to do so. and by extra effort, i mean moving closer to work or getting a job closer to home. or simply moving to an area that allows one to travel without a car.
i read yesterday in cnn about people who live 100 miles from their jobs and can’t keep up with gas prices. seriously, people had better start getting used to the fact they are going to have to give up this modern convenience if they want to have any money in their lives.
we are a nation so obsessed with convenience that doing something that isn’t necessarily convenient is viewed as backward and counterproductive. in theory, convenience is supposed to be good, but theory and reality are 2 different things. also, the benefits that cars bring to one’s life are subjective. when people start looking at cars from an objective viewpoint, they realize that being stuck in traffic with hundreds of thousands of other pissed off drivers may not be beneficial to them and suddenly, sanity becomes more beneficial than convenience.
i was kinda scared when i ditched my car 15 years ago, but it was much easier than i thought. i made the decision and stuck with it. i now view cars as nothing more than obstacles. i haven’t once wished i had a car in the years since i ditched it. i’ve saved countless thousands of dollars, stayed in shape all this time, don’t have to deal with insurance/gas/tickets/accidents/road rage and no amount of rob’s data or “facts” are going to convince me that i made the wrong decision.
kudos tyke!
I haven’t had a car in 1998 and when I moved back to Los Angeles (from stints in New York and London) in 2005, I didn’t buy one. If I have to really want to drive a car for whatever rare reason, it’s cheaper for me to rent one every once in a long while to deal with the hassles and costs of personal ownership.
When I returned to Southern California, I made choices which allowed me to structure a transit-oriented lifestyle. I chose to live near the Santa Monica and Wilshire Blvd. bus corridors, which both now have rapid buses, and the Big Blue Bus provides quality local service. Eventually, some rail line (probably Purple and Expo) will be built walking distance from where I live.
My daily commute on the #7 Big Blue Bus would happen no quicker with an automobile.
I live walking distance from a gym, two grocery stores, my pharmacist, and several movie theatres. I made a transit oriented lifestyle work for me.
The one thing I miss is being able to go to Costco and fill up the trunk. That’s a tradeoff I made with full knowledge.
However, my friends with automobiles are amazed by how well I get around Southern California without a car.
It comes down to a basic question of fear, how people fear what will happen if they cannot have the “freedom or independence” to drive and park their car affordably, both in time an money. Ever worsening congestion and the rising cost of gasoline lessens that affordability and freedom and independence every day.
When I lived in Los Angeles between 1989 and 1998, a car way of life was all I knew. I supported transit in theory, but in my mind, Los Angeles made that impossible. Traffic on the 101 from North Hollywood to downtown got so bad, that in 1993, it was cheaper in time and money for me to drive to the Burbank Metrolink station and take the train to Union State and then ride the new Red Line (short then) to downtown. That started making the difference in what I thought was possible.
It’s really a change of mindset more than anything else. One doesn’t have a car out of choice or affordability and one makes appropriate choices. My friend Jim now lives a transit oriented lifestyle because he could no longer keep up car payments or afford to repair it or put gasoline it. He was skeptical at first, but he finds his life really isn’t limited and the 704 bus makes his life traveling to/from Silverlake much easier than he expected.
I could not choose to live in Woodland Hills or in a single-family home in the middle of nowhere and expect to live an effective transit-oriented lifestyle. That’s a choice some are free to make. However, making that choice, doesn’t mean one is guaranteed transportation convenience with an automobile to make it work.
Not everyone will live want to a car-free life or need to. My friend Steve has to drive to clients in far flung places. London is more a relevant comparison to Los Angeles than New York. London is a sprawl with several economic centers outside the main one known as “The City”. People who say, “this isn’t New York” as an excuse not to have public transit are basically uninformed. It’s not New York in topography, but that’s not a reason for Los Angeles not to have a transit system. The modalities may change, but not the need. London has an urban core, and a suburban outer ring, where many of the people there live in single-family homes and an automobile, but don’t necessarily use it to commute unless it is to drive to a commuter rail station. (Some actually take a bus (gasp) to get to their commuter rail stations.)
Cities with world class transportation systems like New York, London, Paris, Berlin and Tokyo also have world-class choking congestion because of people who still use an automobile for whatever reason. What people and businesses have in those cities are options. In Los Angeles, the car used to be the main viable option and in some places the only really viable option. To people who liked decades of social engineering in favor of the car culture, that suited them fine.
However, even if an automobile-only based lifestyle was and is still the preferred majority option, it is no longer the only option on offer. People who like the car culture see new mass transit as proof their preferred way of life is in decline obviously resent it — or want mass transit to be seen only as transportation welfare for the poor, so they don’t have to make any adjustments to their own lifestyles. These are the people who most frequently shout, “This isn’t New York.” However, the best days of the car culture in Los Angeles in both quality of convenience and affordability are behind us, and will only continue to decline with increasing density and with three million more people expected to migrate here over the next few decades, whether we build a comprehensive mass transit system or not. The party’s over for car culture enthusiasts whether they like it or not, even if the government used social engineering and all of its resources to try and restore it to its former glory. The ONLY question on offer is whether we will have a mass transit system as an option for those people and businesses who are willing to use it and make it work so that Los Angeles will remain economically and environmentally sustainable.
The variables of cheap gasoline and unclogged roads are gone forever. That means many people are willing to try public transit and find it isn’t the horrific nightmare they feared it was. Some people will only use it every once in a while, some will use it only for commuting, but maintain a car for other uses, and some like me will structure a life around the ability to use the public transit we have, which will increase as our system improves out of necessity.
In London and New York, ownership of the car in the city center is considered an extravagance. The extensive subway/light rail and especially commuter rail system allows the model of using transit to get to work, even if one has a car at home for other uses. An expansion of Metrolink is a VITAL part of Southern California’s transportation future. London has numerous “Union Stations” (Paddington, Victoria, King’s Cross, Liverpool St.) New York has Grand Central and Penn Station which serves Metro-North, Long Island RR, and NJ Transit RR very ably. I’d love to see a westisde station near LAX where Metrolink cold have a direct link to the Airport and several light-rail stations, but that’s for the very distant future.)
NBC’s decision to move to the Universal City Red Line stop shows that they know which way the winds are blowing. Corporations don’t do things for altruistic reasons. What led some corporations to move out to cheap land a few decades ago will lead them to move back into density because it will be easier for customers and employees to get there. “The subway doesn’t go anywhere” is giving way to “anywhere” going to the subway.
The whole concept of a tranist-oriented business, let alone a transit-oriented lifestyle is one not even discussed yet. The accessibility to public transit is something many businesses and residents haven’t considered in Los Angeles before, just assuming that everyone has a car and screw poor people on the bus — but it is something that increasing number of residents and businesses will factor into their decision making and into the tradeoffs of cost in time, money and convenience.
What is never coming back to Los Angeles is the ability and expectation for EVERYONE to drive and park their care conveniently and cheaply, with minimal congestion, abundant parking, and cheap gasoline, anytime, anyplace, anywhere, on demand, with public transit sole for the poor and undesirbles and “who cares about them anyway.”
I consider myself a pioneer in Southern California. My lifestyle woudln’t even be considered unusual in any other metropolis on the planet. I am proof that is is possible to live in Los Angeles and have an acceptable quality of life without owning a personal automobile. I am proof that there are at least options for many people that there were not there before.
I am proof that someone who is white, middle-class, educated and knows how to drive a car doesn’t have to and is not obligated to live a car culture lifetsyle if they do not want to or choose to. That there are people like me, non-poor and white who ride transit is what scares car culture enthusiasts and the forces that celebrated the dismantling of our transit system in the 1950s the most. I am living proof that Tom Rubin is wrong. Public transit isn’t just for the poor and not everyone who doesn’t have a car would get one if they could only afford one.
Great responses Cochon and Dan W. Glad to see Tyke’s story isn’t the only one.
great thread, great comments
Congrats, Tyke.
This is very true, Cochon. For the last five decades, transit just hasn’t been a factor in people’s decision making. It was just assumed that one could live where one wants and work where one wants and one could drive and park their single-occupancy automobile where and when the want on demand, and it would be affordable in time and money — and that transit would be the modality of the poor and other undesirables so who cares? Many people have not acceptable that this sense of entitlement is no longer sustainable. They don’t want to have to factor in other variables. Unfortunately for them, car culture quality variables like “congestions”, “density”, “gasoline prices”, “available space and parking”, are not the fixed variable in the equation” as they expected.
Residents and businesses make choices in their own best interests for both subjective and objective reasons. For several decades, the assumption that the car culture was always beneficial and that everyone would participate if they could was an assumption on which people and businesses based their lifestyle and economic choices. “Sure I’ll locate my business out in the middle of nowhere because the land is cheap and of course everyone will drive and I’ll only lose poor, unskilled employees who will easily be replaced.” “Of course I can live 50 miles from work because the freeways will always enable me to drive there conveniently, gas will always be cheap enough, and I’ll always be able to find a place to park.” For others it was, “the bus service is so bad and there is no alternative rail service so I have to buy a car and drive one even if I’d rather not face a horrendous commute everyday.” The variables that created those conclusions are creating a different thought processes. “Gee, even though land is cheaper out here, fewer customers are driving all the way out here. Furthermore, a desired new employee turned a great job down because of difficulty getting to this location. That’s never happened before. Maybe we need to relocate closer to city center, despite the higher land prices.” “Gee, the cost of gasoline has made it impossible for me to pay Janie’s tuition. I just cannot drive 100 miles a day anymmore. I don’t want Janie to have to give up the school she loves, so I guess I need to either move closer to work or find a new job.” “Gee, now that the Red Line works and there is this great rapid bus down Ventura Blvd., I don’t have to drive downtown anymore. I’m going to try it just for a week.” Others will say, “Dammit, these gas prices mean that I won’t be able to afford to Europe this year. However, I love this house, and I’m not giving up Flicka, so I guess I will just have to deal with it or somehow find a new job or way to telecommute.” That’s great too!
The one thought form that will not be on offer is:
“Gee, I love the freedom and independence of my car, and it’s great that everyone else I know drives a car everywhere and every time they want to go anywhere, and that I can expect my clients and customers to drive their cars, and every business should and will be able make it convenient for me to drive to and park at their establishment to work or shop. Who cares about people on the bus? Isn’t just poor Mexicans and drunk drivers? Who cares about them anyway?” Sorry to break the news to you.
I trust people to make choices that are best for them and what they prefer. It is certainly true that living far flung distances from work will be less affordable in time and money as time marches on. Also, even if one can affordably use a car where one lives, there are neighborhoods in most metropolitain areas where driving a car would be ridiculous. I could easily see downtown or Century City being a place where one wouldn’t attempt to drive or park their car whether they live 1, 10 or 100 miles away. For the people who want to continue to live 100 miles away so they can own a ranch house with a horse, and it is worth it to them to pay the extra cost in time and money to continue to do that are certainly free to continue to do so.
This is a great point too. In a car, I could listen to music/news/talk and deal with traffic. For me, the time I spend on bus/train is my reading time. I view the time spent on transit as a better quality of my time even if it isn’t “quicker” than an automobile. “Convenience” is not the only factor in making choices. For me, the quality of reading the newspaper in the morning and a book in the afternoon is better than listening to drive/talk/music in a car (which I could also do with headphones on a bus).
wow. i thought i learned em. dan w., you brought it to a whole new level. couldn’t agree more.
I think public transit also has to work with people to be more friendly.
Neighborhoods that have many people of color who are working class places like Lancaster, Moreno Valley have a very hard time getting to LA via public transit, even with the Metrolink and what if you live in Lancaster work in LA and have a child.
Also some people’s neighborhoods as we see via the news of the seven people who got shot in South LA at a bus stop down the street from the blue line will feel as if they have to drive. Because of the choice of having no money and being dead, which would you choose? I would choose to move, but that’s not an option for many people.
I think the problem is many people in transit (who do the logisitcs) in LA don’t have kids, they don’t understand how certain times of the say they need to have the trasnit running very regularly, not just after 5pm, but after 2pm. Transit needs to take people into account who aren’t single, who aren’t young, and who live in the communter suburbs.
There are enough people in Lancaster who work out here that there should be a much more efficient way for the people out there to get back and forth.
Also I’ve been without a car for like three years and I’ll tell you my experience has been so weird. BusTard my partner in crime is a white guy and everyone thinks he so awesome for not having a car, but for me it’s like, “Oh you’re just a poor minority.” Even though I’m not, nothing wrong with it, but I’m not poor. Even initially before I started working by myself people would often ask me on job interviews if I had a car and these were at environmental places and they would use that as an excuse to not give me work.
I asked my white friends about that, the whole car thing in regards to jobs and people say they have never ever been asked that.
I was applying for professional jobs that had nothing to do with driving.
I think there should be a law against that, because that’s a way people can discriminate against you and I’m sure the less you get paid the more they ask the question on a regular basis. I’ve actually never not been asked if I have had a car during a job interview.
It was outrageous, my class dropped down like two steps just by not having car ownership and being a dark woman. It’s been very challenging, but it’s opened up my eyes to parts of LA that my own economic privilege prevented me from seeing.
Browne
Browne–
I’ve experienced the same when applying for jobs when I was in my early 20s (I’m not white either, but I don’t know if it was a racial thing). Back then they always asked “do you have reliable transportation?”, and I would respond, “yes, I take the bus” which was always an unsatisfactory answer. It might be illegal for them to discriminate on that basis if the job does not require it (I don’t know– never checked) but I think many people here consider you unsuccessful and/or irresponsible if you don’t have a car. Since the level of ignorance here is so widespread, I would just advise you to simply lie about owning a car, and borrow a friend’s car (or rent) for the interview.
I wrecked my car in September, and after six years of parking tickets and frustration, it’s nice to be biking/busing again. I gained 50 pounds within a year of buying my car, and I’m in desperate need of getting healthy again. I will get a car again this year, but I’m in no hurry, and the pain I felt when filling the tank of my gf’s car recently is real discouragement.
If I do apply for a job (that I need money for) I will of course lie, lie, lie, but you know I was completely stupid. I thought it was a positive, I’m applying for environmental jobs and I’m like, “Oh I bike and take public transit.” And they kind of looked at me like, oh…I figured it out, but I never ever thought about the question UNTIL I actually didn’t have a car and was getting negative reactions. 100,000 in wasted cash for an education, I should have just spent a fraction of that on a car. No just kidding, but they made me feel that way.
I should tell you what the group was, but I won’t I’ll save that for another time.
I’m in good shape too, you would be able to look at me and know that it would be no problem for me to bike 10 miles. I find that without a car if it’s within a 5-10 mile radius I can actually get to some places faster than when I was driving. I’m actually more on time now than I ever was with a car.
But I think we need to work to ennact some kind of law so that people who are working class or actually anyone who has a job that does not require you to drive that the employer can not ask what kind of transport you have. I know that happens alot with working class type jobs, because they want to make sure you get to work on time, but that again encourages people to get a car and the lower you are on the socio-economic ladder the less you can even afford a car.
I don’t want it to sound too hopeless, if I had never gotten rid of my car I would have never started my own business, I would not have the free time I have right now, I also can eat more.
“I gained 50 pounds within a year of buying my car, and I’m in desperate need of getting healthy again.” John
Oh yeah so true even though I was a vegan and healthy in lots of ways before BUT I was a smoker, I know horrible, so horrible. I had smoked since I was 14 years old, so for like 13 years…
Anyways three years ago I got rid of my car, stopped smoking, and I didn’t have a problem with gaining weight that lots of people have when they stop smoking and I think it’s because I ride my bike and take public transport.
Oddly I miss smoking more than my car. I’m not even kind of tempted to get a car again. I actually got mad at my fiance for even bringing up the subject, he was like, “Are you done with this not having a car thing, because I really think…” And I just covered my ears and started singing, I’m never ever getting a car again I don’t care how many heinous things happen to me, though more funny things happen than heinous.
Browne
When I worked for Disnelyand part-time a lifetime ago in the 1980’s, they insisted that everyone have “reliable transportation”. The bus was not considered “reliable”. It’s a way of weeding out the “poor”, which unfortunately demographically weeds out a disproportionate share of racial minorities. I don’t know if they still have this policy. But Disney knows employment law like the back of its hand. I suspect that it is perfectly legal to refuse to hire someone because they don’t have “reliable” transportation. Disneyland was also militant about punctuality. You clocked in on-time or else.
Well I think this is something we should truly discuss on a larger scale.
It probably would be relatively easy in the environment that we have now to enact a law that states you can’t discriminate against someone for being eco-conscious or not having a vehicle.
People who have cars are just as late as people who ride the bike or take a bus.
BusTard was telling me something about how in the 80s that the MTA had a thing that they would refund you your money if you got to your destination late, does anyone else here remember that?
Browne
Not to get off topic, but part of living a transit oriented lifestyle is having reliable schedules. The Big Blue Bus #7 schedule is a farce. It’s based on what the ride would be like if there had been no congestion. Granted, BBB and the MTA are not in control of the traffic, and there will be days in which some random occurrence prevents on-time performance. However, with worsening congestion on Pico, the Line 7 rush hour schedule is ridiculous. On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday of last week, the bus left it’s starting point on-time at 7:54 a.m. each of those days. However, it was supposed to reach Pico/Robertson by 8:31. On each of those days it was 8:45 or later.
If the route is slower, so be it. Adjust the timetable accordingly. What people want to know is that if a bus is supposed to be someowhere at at a particular time, it will be there at that time usually. It should be late only under extraordinary conditions. It shouldn’t be a extraordinary circumstance when the bus meets the schedule. BBB is a great service, but the #7 service is notoriously unreliable from a timetable standpoint.
Bus services love schedules like (once every 15 minutes) rather than specific timetables, because then there are no performance measurements. If three stacked up buses come after a 45 minute wait, they’ve met their average of once every 15 minutes.
Automobile commuters don’t have a timetable, but they are familiar with how long their commute will take in the real world. I know the #7 rush hour time table is caca, so I know that if I want to be a Pico/Robertson at 7:31, then I actually need to catch the 7:44 bus. A new transit user won’t know that. No one likes to hear or admit that a commute will take longer, but as advocates we should push for time tables that reflect reality.
————-
I think we do have to lobby for that law. I’ve been asked on job interviews, “may I validate your parking”? And I’ve said, “no thank you, I took transit this morning.” They look at me that there must be something wrong with me. I know they are thinking, “Why doesn’t he have a car? DUI?
Some jobs require a vehicle. My partner works as a building inspector and he has to haul his equipment around from place to place every day. It states that in the job description, and that he needs to use his own vehicle to transport his equipment.
Some jobs don’t require driving as part of the duties. That is who that law is for.
People who like and prefer a car culture ONLY Los Angeles need public transit riders dehumanized and disregarded. “Of course all my clients and colleagues and customers and friends have a car.” Otherwise the question will turn from, “why don’t you have a car” to “what’s wrong with you taking public transit.” Only in Los Angeles would riding a train or a bus considered “beneath” a successful person. Here it’s not only having a car that’s important, but a hot, special car.
I often feel like I have to come out of the closet a second time. “No, I really don’t have a car.” “Yes, I do live a good quality of life.” “No, I’m really not looking for a cheap used car, but thank you.”
For people to stand up with pride and not shame about living a happy life without personally owning an automobile is what changes the culture of marginalization of public transit.
People who want all transit money for road building need public transit users marginalized as “less than” or envious. The whole futile attempt to preserve the L.A. car culture of 20 and 50 years ago is based on the falsehood that everyone who’s on the bus would be driving if they only had a car.
when i was living in japan, i took the train into work and as most people know, public transit is a bit of a priority over there. so is punctuality. on the rare occasions when the trains were late or delayed, you would see huge lines of people at waiting for official apology letters from the train company.
it was very important to get one, because if i were even a minute late to work, i would be docked a half-day’s pay. no exaggeration.
at my current job, about half of the employees use some form of non-car transport to get in. we have a pretty good transit culture going. but we’re also a korean-owned school, so who knows.
Dan W, you say “Automobile commuters don’t have a timetable, but they are familiar with how long their commute will take in the real world.”
I have many friends who commute across town, mostly to jobs in West LA and Santa Monica. They all say to me that some days it can take 30 minutes, and some days 1.5 hours, and there is no way to predict, all due to traffic. So most of them assume that it will take at last an hour, and are sometimes early, sometimes late.
I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to set up my life so that I live and work with a short walk, and people all over Los Angeles that I talk to are envious that I only use a car maybe one day a week, and only for errands at that. As soon as it dies or gets wrecked, I won’t replace it. But I often encounter the horrified stare when I actually meet up with these same people at events or dinners, and they find I took the train or a bus, or some combination of either. It’s one thing in my world, but quite another in theirs. Sad
The jobs thing is a good point.
For some reason, low level jobs, almost always seem to demand that you have your own car. I’ve helped friends try to find jobs in LA, and it’s weirdly pervasive.
In cities where cars are not so worshipped, any job that requires a car usually gets it provided (the company car). I think it’s a cheap way to pass the costs along to the employee. Even if you are paid for mileage or gas, by using your own car the wear and tear, and insurance are still yours to pay.
Okay, so I would absolutely LOVE to be able to give up my car! For all the reasons that have been posted.
BUT, (yes a but, a big one) I live in Tulsa, and the public transportation here SUCKS!! The busses stop running at a certain time, and if the weather is bad, they change it to where it’s an even earlier stop time. We have taxi services, but none that just roam the street waiting for someone to hail them. We have to call in advance to get one to pick us up!! I’ve thought of biking, but there aren’t enough sidewalks…and knowing some of the people who drive these streets, I wouldn’t want to ride on them. I see some who do, but it’s mostly just training…not actually going to work, etc.
If I’m ever able to live in a place where cars were actually not needed, I will give it a shot. Until then, unfortunately, I will drive.
Hooray for everyone who has given them up!! I envy you.
Random bad story for today:
So I finally convinced my dad to take the Red line to Staples Center for today’s Lakers game. I convinced him that driving with the LA Marathon going right next door would be horrible.
Well, on the way there, he has a great time, feels like a genius watching all the commotion and car chaos around Staples.
Then on the way back…
Well first of all they miss the first train. Oh well, no biggie. They look up, the screen of course has no information about when the next train is coming. This baffles my dad. Anyway, so the next train comes, he gets on.
Hmm, last stop, Wilshire/Western. Uh oh. He got on the wrong train. I explain to him later “No, that was the purple line,” he says “Well it was red and the big screen didn’t say anything and no one announced anything and everyone else got on. Literally 50 laker fans got to Wilshire/Western and had no idea what was happening.”
So he stays on the train and takes it back, then gets on a North Hollywood train. They get to Vermont station and a woman (possibly a marathon runner) passes out and they sit there for 40 minutes while paramedics arrive. Finally, the train leaves again, and takes him back to North Hollywood and he gets off and tells me he’s never riding again.
Sigh. Obviously this was an unusually bad situation and completely flukey and random (afterall, people get in car crashes every day and screw up roads for hours), but he was pretty pissed that the signs didn’t work and that the whole thing seemed so mismanaged. Sucks though that now he thinks of the subway as a looming disaster and not a viable transportation choice.
There is NO excuse for the Purple and Red Line trains not being better marked.
I’m sorry about your dad’s trip. There is no reason the train should have been held for 40 minutes. Unless she was dead, in NY, they would have removed her and moved on.
Awful.
“There is NO excuse for the Purple and Red Line trains not being better marked.”
It’s not rocket science. Every car has a sign that says either Red Line or Purple Line.
As for the marathon runner passing out, that was a medical emergency. Would he rather the person pass out in their car instead?
it’s not rocket science, and it’s still clearly broken. i work at wilshire western, so i’m at that station a lot. pretty much every time, there are a few people still sitting on the train, confused. probably hundreds a day.
Yes, people in LA don’t want to give up their cars because they fear losing the “convenience” of it. However, there’s another factor that I think is more prevalent here than in most other cities. People look at their cars as an extension of themselves, as a fashion statement. They don’t want to give up their cars because then, they would no longer have a “hot ride to cruise around looking good in”, while they pretend they’re Britney Spears driving down Sunset. I honestly think the presence of the entertainment industry here has a lot to do with the prevailing car culture. Think about how many rap songs there are about “pimping in your ride” or whatever. How many celebrities ride the bus? So many people here are trying to live that celebrity lifestyle, trying to act like so and so from “The Hills”, and mass transit just doesn’t fit the job description.
I don’t understand LA’s obsession with valet parking. What’s the point of offering valet at these massive parking structures, like the Grove? Are people really that anxious to pay twice as much for parking just for the superficial self-perceived status that comes with using valet? The Coffee Bean on the Sunset Strip offers valet…THE COFFEE BEAN!!!
And don’t even get me started on sporting events. No doubt Metro should have built a stop at Dodger Stadium, but there is one at Staples Center. If you look on the Lakers’ website, there’s not one mention of the Blue Line. But there are big colorful maps of all the wonderful and convenient parking lots, many of which are farther away from the arena than the Blue Line Pico Station (and cost about $15 per car).
Don’t get me wrong. I love the city of LA. What I’ve just ranted about is my disappointment in a supposedly “liberal” and “environmentally-aware” city. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a big environmentalist rally downtown and the announcements included parking directions. The hypocrisy of LA is the one thing that gets to me about this place.
You and me both buddy. That’s one thing that really pisses me off about the entertainment industry, they are all supposedly a bunch of really liberal environmentalist bleeding-heart do-gooders yet they choose to live in massive houses in the hills, cruise around in fancy cars and stretch hummers, and then when they do go green it’s by opening up “eco-resorts” in far off islands. Imagine if those successful in the entertainment industry decided to give back and help improve the city that made them.
Hey, Ed Begley, Jr. walks the talk. The fact that NBC/Universal is moving to the Red Line is a good sign. It wouldn’t hurt to have Ed Begley, Jr. aboard.
The Metro-bus commercials, “I ride Metro” should encourage a celebrity endorsement or two.
I agree with the “fashion statement” aspect of driving. I know people who drive, but are ashamed of their cars for not being new or sporty enough and park far away so as not to risk being seen driving it. That’s ridiculous.
It needs to be pointed out that not everyone will be asked to “give up” their fashion statement. People who want to have their own car and pay for that expense will of course be able to do so. The only thing they will not be guaranteed is that they will be able to drive it and park it cheaply and conveniently anytime, anyplace, anywhere on demand, and that everyone else will have a car and do the same too.
It’s important to note that even those who refuse to use transit for whatever reason will still have lifestyle changes, because they will not just be able to assume that everyone else will have a car and will have to factor in transit accessibility in their professional meetings and social engagements even if they themselves have a car. That, and businesses offering transit information in their “how to get here” directions, are the subtle changes people will notice. My church, which is near Vermont/Wilshire has started including not only driving instructions, but also the fact that it is conveniently near two transit lines (well, 1-1/3 lines, but it’s a start.)
Yeah, Ed Begley Jr. is the exception, but, unfortunately he’s… Ed Begley Jr. Not quite Leonardo DiCaprio is alls I’m sayin’.
I know it’s the biggest challenge of them all, but one of my main reasons for starting this site and for really caring about how it looks and stuff is that one of my goals is to make the transit lifestyle “cool”. The bicycle advocates have done a pretty good job making their mode the realm of bad-asses, hipsters, and counter-culture youths… in other words, cool people. I’d like for people who ride the bus in LA to be considered the cool dewds and the guys in their flashy cars to be considered the douchebags.
It’s really all mindset, isn’t it?
“What will other people think of me if I ride transit instead of using a car? Will they look down on me for being poor, think something is wrong with me, be impressed that I am doing something good for the environment or be jealous that they wish they could do it themselves if they would only let themselves?”
The truth is probably all of those reactions will come at least from somebody. The real question is what to I think of myself? I walk my talk and believe my transit usage contributes to the environmental and economic sustainability of Southern California. I think that’s pretty cool. That’s what really matters.
For me, it’s really like “coming out the closet” a second time. What I think of myself is what is really important. I will attract and be attracted to the reactions that mirror what I think about myself.
I think a transit oriented lifestyle is not only cool, but if enough of us do it, it will do nothing less than save Southern California for future generations.
The one place in LA where I see a significantly different attitude towards transit is Santa Monica. I see more bikes there than in probably any other part of LA County and the bus stops are always crowded with a very wide demographic of people. In fact, it almost seems like riding the Big Blue Bus in Santa Monica is “cool”, at least that’s my perception of things.
“It’s really all mindset, isn’t it?” Dan W
No, I don’ think it is. I think I’m great, but it doesn’t matter what I think. I truly don’t care what people think about me, but I do care when certain issues impact my economics.
I also care when other people’s economic status is impacting owing to something that is nothing but in pc terms “classism”.
People can think I’m poor or dumb or hate me because of the way I look or what I use to get around the city, but the moment they discriminate against me (or someone else) and use that discrimination from preventing me from putting food on the table then it goes beyond positive thinking. They are violating my civil rights. No one should have to positively think their way out of that.
I do in a universal zen sense get what you’re saying Dan and believe it to some extent.
I think that’s the thing about cars, you can get in your car and not see anything and not feel anything and put on music and pretend that these certain realities do not exist, but being on the bus I see things that I have never seen before. To me you can’t 100% understand public transit if you have access to a car. Having a car is like slumming, even if you use it just some of the time, you know it’s there. It’s like that song Common People.
I get to see the inequalities in a very literal way. I can look at it in a rose colored glasses way. I can get back in my car if I want, but you know it’s too late. I know the guy who works in construction, the lady who cleans the house, the other lady that works security I know they can’t just go back to pretending anymore. They have to take the bus.
If you’re trying and show up on time you taking the bus should not impact your economics and it does and it’s not right and if there isn’t a law against discriminating against people on that basis, there should be one.
I know for that working class guy who loses out on a job because he doesn’t have a car, a positive attitude is not going to do anything to protect that guy from that kind of reality. A positive attitude can’t save you from ignorant people, laws do very little in the beginning, but lawyers can help alleviate that pain.
Lawsuits are pretty much the most effective way to get people to be fair in California. I really wish it wasn’t that way, but from my experience people here are very unreasonable when it comes to being decent, especially if its in regards to an issue that doesn’t impact them at all.
Anyways I’m going to actually try to do something other than blog about the issue of economic discrimination based on what mode you decide to use get from point a to point b.
Browne