“Honey, I sold the car!”

06 March 2013

Something wasn’t and then it is. One day a consciousness does not exist and then, the next day it does. The tipping point for awareness of issues and taking different decisions is different for us all. However, in the context of deciding which way to travel these decisions are of great interest to transport planners, transport companies and environmentalists.

We live in zone three in London. Since we had kids we have had a car. It has been used less and less and it was finally relegated to an occasional giant supermarket trolley or short-hop taxi. So most of the week it sat, insured, serviced, MOT’d, full of petrol, with a parking permit,  depreciating and decaying in the street. Then, a car club parking bay appeared 50 metres away. I checked it out – it seems sensible and while the cost of individual journeys can seem high, when you consider the hundreds of pounds lavished on our nine-year-old car, not so.

Goodbye car. Sold to the next door neighbour – which might be interesting in itself. So far, four weeks into this experiment, we haven’t really not noticed the difference. Makes you think much more about cost of journeys and what can be the relative good value of rail travel. Armed with an Oyster season ticket you do feel it is possible to be car free.

More reports as the experiment continues.