Spyke
citylife·City Lifebyomenmis

How do you get around daily?

Just wondering how people here get around day-to-day.

I personally try to use a bike as much as possible, but end up driving because of the structure of US suburbia and being the friend with a car™.

View original on beehaw.org

My cities public transport is terrible but I live in what's basically a street car suburb close to the downtown so I can do most of my day to day stuff by walking. I also have an electric scooter for longer trips. For trips that require me to go into the burbs, I do have a car but I prefer to avoid using it

5

Car, though I have a plug in hybrid and fill up the tank once every 2-3 months. Public transit is a joke in my city, and while I do bike to the few places I can safely get to (work is actually one of them, weather permitting), it’s just not something I’d feel safe doing for most commutes.

5
beehaw.org

I live in the UK. I take the train to work, but I usually drive to the shops and for errands as there aren't any cheap supermarkets within walking distance. I do tend to walk into town as parking is a pain! And I do lots of walks around my towns parks.

Should really get on the bike train, but I don't have a great place to store it and I'm worried about getting killed by SUVs!

5
omenmisreply
beehaw.org

Oof, yeah the storage part is probably one of the hardest things tbh. If you commit to biking it is really nice, though u might still need to drive to get groceries and do errands if u carry a lot of stuff tbh.

2
Kwikxilverreply
beehaw.org

That's the thing - when I shop, it's usually for a week or so and I can't carry all of that stuff on the back of a bike. All of the discount supermarkets are located on the edges of town in more industrial areas while all of the more traditional / expensive ones are within a 30 min walk.

I do barely use my car - WFH most of the time - and I'm glad I don't use it to commute any more. That really is hell on earth.

2
omenmisreply
beehaw.org

Yeah, that's a sticky situation. Low costs driven by lower cost of land acquisition. I will say if you didn't have the car you could probably afford the more expensive markets, but obviously going car free isn't for most people...

That said, its a lot easier to do grocery shopping walking or biking when you just do it for the next few days max. Though if the closest store is a 30 min walk its pretty inconvenient.

1

Absolutely. We have tried existing off the "express" store 5 mins from us but the prices are killer. We have had to switch almost solely to the discount markets because of the cost of living.

I barely use my car so I have thought about selling it, but we don't have a reliable car hire scheme in my town so if I needed one for work I would be screwed. I think though that the savings from being car-free would in no way balance out the costs from the expensive supermarket. Difference of a weekly shop is like £50!

1

Mostly walking and public transit, because I'm lucky enough to live somewhere this is possible within the US. It's often not enough, sadly.

4

Mostly walking and subway, with the occasional taxi. I live in a major US city with an existent public transit system though.

4

I'm in Shanghai. I mostly get around by bike, but if I need to go somewhere far or the weather is bad or I'm going with the family, I take the Metro. I don't own a car and haven't driven in ages.

4

I hate driving, never managed to complete the driving courses and get the permit. Also my coordination is shit and I never managed to bike. So public transit and walking it is :D

I also get everything I can through delivery (including groceries), and I work remotely. So I limit the need to get around as well.

3
feddit.de

Mostly by public transport or walking, I do live very close to the city centre in a European city, so that helps. I keep telling myself I should go by bike more, but laziness usually wins :D If there is something I need a car for i use the local car sharing which is quite handy.

3

Laziness >>> tbh

I made it hard to drive so I bike more often. Every small barrier makes it just a bit more likely that I don't drive.

2

Southern Europe: Mostly by car, sadly. Bike commuting is something that is hard in small cities that do not focus on pedestrian/bike infrastructure. I try to walk as much as I can. But my city is designed for cars, not people.

On the other hand, at least here, there's an uprising of electric scooters and personal mobility vehicles at the moment. I think it's mostly because of problems with parking spaces and economic struggles within some communities that prioritize an economical scooter over a second-hand car, which can have higher maintenance costs.

3

I mostly walk and take public transit, occasionally biking or using bikeshare if there's a major traffic snafu in the city - I'd probably bike more if I had an ebike which is something I may explore in the future. If I have to leave the city for whatever reason I do drive though, there's some transit access to the suburbs here but primarily one way trips into and out of the city during commuter hours.

2

Only walking, maybe one tram a month.

I live in Belgrade, which is the world's largest small village.

2

NYC - walking and subway! I had a car and now I'm so happy to live in an area I don't need it. Also on the plus side, my calves have grown substantially...

1
beehaw.org

I get 90%+ of my trips around by walking and biking, occasionally by public transport and only a few times per year I need a car. Living in the Netherlands.

1
anthr76reply
lemmy.kutara.io

Do you own a car? I seemingly starting to find myself in a similar situation and wondering should I just ditch the car.

1

No, I don't and I haven't felt the need to buy one either. For the few times that I do need a car I'm lucky enough to have family living close by that is always happy to let me use their cars. But even if I didn't have family living close-by renting a car a few times a year is probably way cheaper in my case than buying and maintaining my own car. Owning a car does have some advantages, but in my case I think the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Disadvantages are things like: Extra costs for buying the car, maintenance, parking and insurance. Taking up extra space in a crowded city and bad for my health if I get too much used too it.

I would buy one if I really needed one for a job, but so far I really don't need it (and I could always still buy a car if I do need it more often).

1

You reached the end

How do you get around daily? | Spyke