A series featuring car-free women in LA.
Alyssa of Musings of a Crazy Bitch
Basics: 29-year-old editor. Lives with her husband and her 11-month-old daughter, who are also car-free, in North Hollywood.
Car free since: Late 2007
Blogging since: May 2007
Notable post: I’m a Parent, in which Alyssa mourns the fact she has to watch crappy movies like Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
_____
On going car-free….
When I first moved to LA, I couldn’t imagine my life without a car. My husband and I shared our car, and we drove it everywhere. I ended up changing jobs which made it impossible for us to continue sharing the car. We couldn’t afford to get a second car, so my husband started taking the bus to work.
Later, he told me about the Orange Line which would drop me off right in front of my work. Since this was an easy bus trip, I started taking the Orange Line so my husband could take the car. Between the stress of driving and seeing a car accident almost every day, he slowly stopped taking the car too.
Our car started to be used only for the occasional doctor appointment and grocery trips. I started to feel resentful that I had to pay car payments, registration fees, and insurance for a car that was just sitting around hardly being used, so I decided to rid myself of that money trap.
When I first went car-free, I didn’t realize how easy it would actually be. I found that I can get anywhere I want to go with a little planning and time. Even trips to the grocery store are easy. The store is in walking distance, so I just bought a hand held cart and walk to the store.
On riding the bus with a baby.
I have those days when riding the bus with a baby is a nightmare. It all starts when my husband looks up the bus schedule and tells me the next bus comes in twenty minutes. I quickly jump up to get the diaper bag packed and assign him the task of getting the baby ready to go. We run around like mad for the next twenty minutes only to miss the bus by five.
Now we have to wait another forty-five minutes for the bus, or find another route. We decide to walk to the bus stop that’s a little further but has a bus coming in ten minutes, so we throw the baby in a stroller and run out of the door. We make it to the bus stop just before the bus and look at each other with a sigh of relief.
But our elation is quickly dashed as the bus does not slow down. My husband runs and flags down the bus. It stops a quarter-block down. I run to get on. The bus driver explains she didn’t stop because we had the baby in the stroller and we need to have her out before the bus comes.
I grumble something and squeeze into the half a seat left between two men who do not look happy to be sitting next to a restless baby. I don’t care; I’m just glad my husband is there to help me juggle the baby, her blanket, a stroller, the diaper bag, and bus fair, so I don’t accidentally hit the guy next to me with the stroller again.
But most days on the bus are not like this. I’ve learned how to get to the bus on time and make sure I’m not carrying more than I can handle. I find that even on a full bus there usually is someone willing to give up their seat to the person holding the baby (this holds true for my husband as well). And once I’m on the bus, I’m able to entertain her (if someone else isn’t making faces or playing peek-a-boo) instead of keeping her strapped in the car seat, bored out of her mind.
On the upsides and downsides….
The biggest benefit to going car free is the money I have saved. But the few times I’ve been in a car since, remind me of the other benefits. Recently I had to drive my friend’s car home. I ended up driving very slowly because of how nervous I was. Every time I’m given a ride home, I end up holding my breath as someone cuts us off and the driver cusses and slams on the breaks. As we spend ten minutes going in circles looking for a parking space, I think about how this hassle wasn’t worth the five minutes I just saved.
Sure the bus takes a little longer than a car. But I actually feel like I save time riding the bus. Instead of worrying about traffic or where to park the car, I am able to catch up on some work, play with my child, or just listen to my favorite podcast.
There are some problems with being a car-free woman. When I walk a block to the bus stop, I can always count on a group of men leering at me as I pass by. I have had a man follow me for a few blocks before asking for my number, men who insist on getting my attention on the bus, and a belligerent, drunken man sitting next to me. Sure these things make me uncomfortable, but they are not problems that belong solely to the car-free. These things can happen anywhere there are people (as I have mentioned, half of these happened on the way to and from the bus stop).
I am not implying that the bus is not safe. On the contrary, I actually feel safer when I am on the bus than if I am in a parking garage alone. On the bus, I am able to freely change seats to get away from the harasser and I know there are other people who can help me if needs be. Even as I arrive at my stop, I feel safe since I am usually getting off the bus with a group of people.
Despite the people who have bothered me on the bus, I still enjoy taking the bus. I have met a lot more people whom I’ve enjoyed. I’ve met amazing people that I would never have had the opportunity to meet otherwise.
The hardest thing about going car-free was when I broke my leg. I found out firsthand how hard public transportation is for people who are not able-bodied. It is extremely tiring to walk a block to the bus stop on crutches. Transit authorities and bus advocates need to remember there are a lot of elderly people and disabled people who ride the bus. And we, as riders, need to remember to make room for them and help them when they are on our bus.
On car-dependent people.
Unfortunately, people who are part of the car culture believe the myth that the bus is for poor people. Because of this myth, I’m often embarrassed to admit that I don’t have a car. Whenever I’m offered a ride, it usually comes with pity. I resent the implication that I’m stuck riding the bus.
Advice for the car-free curious.
If you are considering going car-free, know what your needs are. If you have to be in different places in a moment’s notice, consider looking into several modes of transportation (like Zipcar for instance). Think about some of the logistics like how to get your groceries home. But be realistic about your needs. Do you really need that extra ten minutes that a car will save you? Do you really need to carry fifty pounds of groceries at once?
Don’t let the fears run your life. If you feel safe in your neighborhood, then you will feel safe walking to the bus stop in that neighborhood. The bus is really safer than you might think. If you go on the bus fearful of everyone you see, you are really cheating yourself of a lot of positive experiences.
______
green LA girl’s notes: Finally, we have a woman with a child featured in the Car Free Mondays series! Yay!
At Musings of a Crazy Bitch, Alyssa writes mostly about politics from a personal viewpoint with a feminist bent.
Yay! Now we know that it can be done with a child too!
It’s a shame that not being car dependent is looked upon as being poor.
Have I mentioned how much I love this series? ;-)
Comment by Kim Woodbridge — December 22, 2008 @ 8:58 am
Good to have a woman with a child, but the difficulty of finding one who is also internet savvy probably points to a larger problem within our society.
Cute baby, cute mommy.
Browne
Comment by browne — December 22, 2008 @ 2:18 pm
Yay! A car-free mother! Another great interview Siel, I love this series.
A few rants though, the disgruntled bus drivers really tick me off. I mean, it’s been getting much better over the past few years, I’ve been encountering less and less bitchy bus drivers but every now and then I do see one. And it’s usually when I’m in a good mood too (which doesn’t last long, because of the disgruntled driver). I just want to call bullshit on the bus driver who nearly passed you by because your baby was still in her stroller. There is no rule saying that you MUST have her out of her stroller or the bus will not stop. If they did, they would have had to advertise it to educate the public. If that happened to me, I would have complained about that driver.
That just fries my hide. I remember last summer, I was putting my old raleigh on the bike rack of the bus that I usually took every day and the bus driver was annoyed because I took a little longer with the holding bar that she liked so she just honked her horn at me when I was RIGHT IN FRONT of her bus making sure my bike was secure. Her excuse was she was late and didn’t have the time to wait for me. What was she gonna do? Run over me with my bike barely on the rack? And I wasn’t the reason why she was late, she had a whole bunch of different types of people on the bus who were making her late (families, other bicycles, wheelchairs, old people with tons of groceries). I rarely take that bus anymore.
Another thing this interview reminded me of that really ticks me off is people who don’t make room for the elderly or disabled passengers. I’ve been on the bus many times where young mothers holding babies, elderly and/or disabled passengers get on the bus and the healthy-looking able-bodied people (teenagers to middle-aged) outright ignore those people who need a seat. I mean, if you are a single woman and want proof that chivalry is dead, just take the bus, where you will see as many as 10-25 men in your own age group NOT offer you a seat. And I’m a child-free single woman. I see red whenever I see disabled or elderly struggle to find a seat. GRR!!
You know, I don’t have a problem with public transportation, just some of the people, sometimes…
I’ll stop right there, didn’t mean to hijack this post…
Comment by Righteous Metal Broad — December 22, 2008 @ 7:08 pm
I know I waited a long tome to post a comment, but I wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to comment first.
I find it kind of funny that some people find it surprising that bus riding can be done with a child. Everyday I ride the bus, I see someone with a child. I have seen everything ranging from mothers with their brand new baby to families with several children of different ages, to middle school aged children riding by themselves. I have seen people in wheel chairs, elderly people with canes and walkers, people with crutches, and people with downs syndrome on the bus. Yes all of the people I’ve just mentioned have their own challenges to riding the bus. But these are the same challenges that they face with everything they do in their daily lives.
Please understand that I am not an anomaly just because I have a child. I’m not an anomaly just because I’ve ridden the bus on crutches. I’m not an anomaly just because my motivation for going car-free has nothing to do with being green. There are a lot of us. Don’t forget about us.
Comment by Alyssa — December 31, 2008 @ 10:43 am