No Jeep November by the numbers
Days without driving my Jeep - 30
Miles traveled via scooter - 142
Times moving Jeep for street cleaning - 4
Times nearly freezing face off on scooter - 2
Total trips - 83
Trips via:
- Walking - 12
- Cycling - 12
- Scooter - 30
- Cars of friends/family - 12
- Girlfriend's car - 12
- Public transit/cabs - 4
Bicycle tire rotations - 1
Injuries from said rotations - 2
Times accused of being gay while on scooter - 2
Scooter gas fill-ups - 3 (for a total of $7.95)
Times refusing to let girlfriend drive Jeep even though her car was in the shop - 12
Thoughts and Conclusions
The motor scooter makes the task much easier
As the numbers indicate, owning and driving a motor scooter makes the task of living car-free much easier. My trips via the scooter easily doubled every other category, and all for less than $8 in gas. The scooter is perfect for trips between one and five miles, and those are the types I take most often. A major part of me would like to re-try the experiment--only without ownership of any internal combustion engine.
Disappointed with my public transportation usage
I'm a little disappointed I only set foot on a bus twice during my carless month. Up until the start of my unemployment (when my company was subsidizing my transit passes) I took anywhere from 6-10 trips a week via buses. I've always enjoyed utilizing them as a sober driver, or a way to get in half an hour's reading while commuting, but due to the ease and inexpensive nature of the scooter, there just wasn't the incentive. The scooter and buses were clearly in direct competition with one another for my trips, and in general the scooter won out. (My one round-trip bus ride was from Santa Monica to downtown LA for a book signing, a distance I didn't feel comfortable riding the scooter--particularly at night.)
Even in Santa Monica, riding a scooter at night is cold
It's not really much of a surprise, but riding a motor scooter at night during November isn't too much fun. My coldest trip was an 11pm jaunt from Marina Del Rey to Santa Monica and by the end of it I was shivering at red lights, my nipples were like ice sickles, and I was ready to be inside. The trip was certainly doable, but I would much rather have been inside a heated car, listening to Raul Campos on KCRW.
I began to feel like a bit of a mooch
As with the scooter, having friends--and particularly a girlfriend--with cars made the month much easier to get through. Because they were willing to drive, I didn't have to sacrifice fun activities like hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains, concerts downtown and in Hollywood, and Thanksgiving festivities with the family. Even though I never had friends just chauffeur me around, by the end of the month I was feeling like a bit of a mooch. It's not a feeling I would enjoy if I did decide to jettison my Jeep. I doubt any of my friends resented it, but I'd like to extend a special thanks to them for driving me around during the last 30 days.
There was some sacrifice
Even with friends and my scooter picking up the slack, there was some sacrifice. Not being able to drive with my bike down to Long Beach for rides with my brother was particularly annoying. It's one of my favorite activities, and isn't really feasible if I can't drive the 25 miles it takes to get there. The last thing anyone needs is for me to attempt to carry my bicycle while riding a scooter down PCH.
In conclusion
Assuming I own a motor scooter, am dating someone with a car, and am unemployed (or working close to home) living without a car isn't very difficult at all. Sure, I can't visit my brother or head to Griffith Park by myself, but there has to be some sacrifice for all the good that would come with ditching my car. It was also nice that I was blessed with perfect weather for the entire month. This isn't shocking considering where I live, but if I had faced several days of scootering and busing in rainy weather, I might be singing a different tune. And finally, as much as my friends seemed to not mind driving me around, I felt bad not being able to return the favor. There's no doubt I'm 95% of the way convinced I should sell my Jeep, but I just can't get past that lingering 5% that won't let me do it. Looks like I need to hold onto it until at least next November. If only ZipCar would serve Santa Monica.
1 Not really.
2 Yes, I realize I'm a shitty boyfriend. She let me hear all about it.a
a In my defense, I did drive her to work on the back of my scooter and pick her up in a friend's car.
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2 comments:
"Times accused of being gay while on scooter - 2"
Hilarious -- who knew scooter heckling would be an issue?
Those barbs were flung by two unenlightened men while Nick and I scooted to a beach workout. Nick was sporting a tank top at the time, and I had a raging boner.
On second thought, perhaps they were enlightened...
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