A series featuring car-free women in LA.

Kristina Wong

Basics: 30-year-old performance artist and teacher. Lives with a cat in West L.A. Child-free.

Car free since: Aug. 14, 2008, when her pink biodiesel Mercedes caught on fire on the freeway and went to car heaven.

Blogging since: 2003.

Notable posts:
>> Kristina’s pick: Carlessness landed me at a gay bar in Venice and I demanded cab fare reparations from all the gay men
>> green LA girl’s pick: I went to a lesbian bar and ended up trying to unionize strippers
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On going car-free….

In June 2006 I purchased a 1981 pink Mercedes that ran on vegetable oil from Lovecraft Biofuels. I thought it was going to be a green girl’s dream come true. The truth was it was a nightmare. The repairs were neverending and soon the price of vegetable oil eclipsed and exceeded that of gas.

I found myself spending more time taking the car to get repaired than driving it. Many times it was a complete hazard to drive, leaking insane amounts of oil. I found myself thinking, “When this car dies on me, I’m just not going to own a car again.” And I got my wish when the car caught on fire on the 405. As I watched my car go up in 20 foot flames, I realized I was free of what was becoming the largest line item in my monthly budget.

I could own a car again, but the idea of owning such a financial liability is traumatic. I have some friends who are car free in this town (for some reason, they are all gay men) and by golly, if they can go car free, then so can I.

Besides, I barely drive in Los Angeles. And if you look around the cars on the road, there are so many cars with empty seats! I used to look into the one passenger cars on the road when I was stuck in traffic and think, “We should all ride together! We’d save so much space on the road.”

It took a while of getting used to, but I like that I have one less big machine in my life to worry about. When I would get into fender benders, they would be two day affairs of calling and repairing and dropping off. When I went on trips, I had to worry about where I would park the car or if it would start when I came back. And because the car ran on vegetable oil, I was always freaked out about where I’d get vegetable oil. It was such a hassle.

I’m using this experience as fodder for a new show. My manager is pretty excited about it and thinks it will be a hilarious show. He hasn’t given me a hard time at all for being carless. Especially because I’m not the only client he has who has no car (one of his clients can’t drive because he got a DUI). He knows I can get around town to meetings and whatever if I really needed to and that’s all he cares about. So even the sucky experiences on the bus will end up just being grist for the mill.

I look at it as an adventure. If I really end up hating not having a car and it somehow ruins my career, I can just go buy a car again. Or maybe I’ll look into buying a scooter— I just need to learn how those work. In the meantime, in this economic downturn, I’m saving a ton of money and looking at life and the city from a whole new lens. And if it doesn’t kill me, I’ll be a better person for it. If anything, I’ll be a lot more drunk.

I also like to use my time on the bus to do things like meditate and read books (gasp! Reading?!). When I drove, I barely had time to read the paper, let alone books. So when I get on the bus, I see it as my “studio time” to take care of things like writing, freelance writing, reading, and journaling. Sometimes I get a little motion sickness, but I’m working with it.

I may get a car one day if I have a kid. But I will cross that bridge when the time comes…. Or at least… When the sperm donor comes (hey! double entendre!).

How she gets around.

I have always worked a lot from home. So my commute is only 20 feet from my bed! I tour nationally so I am out of town a lot and being carless makes a lot of sense being gone a lot.

There are actually some really great bus lines I didn’t know of before. My favorite line is the Big Blue Bus 10 express that picks me up two blocks from my place, gets right on the 10 freeway, and drops me off at a lot of great stops downtown. I live in walking distance to Santa Monica Blvd and Wilshire, so I can get across town on buses than run along those boulevards.

I was actually really into cycling a few years ago, but I should probably upgrade. Believe it or not, I still ride the very first bike I ever owned— a Toys R Us Bike from 6th grade. I have a Cannondale but I have to wear special shorts with it or else my crotch gets squished. So I’ve just been riding my Toys R Us bike to get me around the neighborhood.

Also, my friends have been really great about offering me rides. It’s like that Lenny Kravitz song “Are you Going to Go My Way?”– the answer is yes a lot of the times. Right now I’m lucky that there are people who are part of my Van Nuys Project who I can carpool from West LA with. When I did a show last month in Santa Monica, I caught rides over to the theater.

Occasionally what will throw things off is if I have a meeting in Burbank or something like that. But I usually know about it the day before and can plan with my friend in advance to borrow her car. She hardly ever drives her car so she’s lent me her car in a pinch. Next month, my friend who has street parking is leaving me her car for a few days when she is in New York. I’ll probably offer myself as a “car sitter” to folks when they leave town.

Like many other women, I am concerned about waiting for the bus late at night alone. On trips that require transferring buses, I sometimes take a short taxi ride to the bus stop that will bring me just one ride to my apartment.

It’s not a thrill to walk along Santa Monica Blvd with all the homeless people and big cars charging along, but I can get things like food, medicine, a massage, and booze by foot. I’m also finding myself buying groceries off the Mexican food trucks that sweep the neighborhood. The food isn’t so bad! It’s actually quite cheap! I also buy food from the West LA Farmer’s Market.

In general I’ve really had to change my mindset. The first few weeks of carless I was stressed out about non-existent hypothetical trips in my future (“Ohmigod! What if I have to go to Burbank and then San Diego and then transport an overhead projector to Long Beach!??”). But I’ve mapped out my car resources (“I have a friend nearby, zipcar, and if necessary can call a taxi.”) and have taken big breaths and know that if I need to get around, I will be able to. No need to panic.

On the upsides and downsides….

There’s a great article on Wikihow about “How to Be Rich” which suggests getting rid of your car as one strategy. It’s true. I found some estimates online that owning a car can be up to $8000 a year. I believe it! By my estimates, even if I rented a car once a week from zipcar, took an occasional taxi, chipped in for gas with friends, and bought a bus pass– I’d still save $4000 a year from not owning a car. So far, I think I’ll be saving more than that.

I also was able to rent out my carport for $100 a month to someone from Craigslist. There are quite a lot of people who leave the country and need a place to park their car. That’s going to be an extra $1200 a year! Whee!

Carlessness forces me to really rethink my attachment to my belongings and think about other places I could get to if I was willing to “let go of attachment” to get more out of life. I’m really thinking that if I wanted to leave LA for a couple weeks and just travel about, that it is somehow much more easier now that I am 5,000 pounds lighter.

Speaking of letting go of crap, being car free is also a great excuse to buy new crap with the money you’ve saved. I own a pair of heart shaped sunglasses. I also have been buying a lot more fish fillets to cook. And some cute dresses (which I think are helping me get rides about town!).

Whether it’s the MTA, a cab or my wonderful friends, I always have a designated driver! Incidentally, I didn’t move to New York because the non-stop boozing-hail-a-cab-home was killing my liver. Seems like going carless has now brought my New York liver to Los Angeles.

I’m getting more svelte. Running after buses and walking from the bus stop has been enough extra physical activity to keep me looking spankier than ever. (Though the carbs from all the beer does counteract these benefits.)

It’s definitely trickier to run spontaneous errands around Los Angeles without a car to drive all over town in. But at the same time, not having a car forces me to schedule my activities and be more efficient. For example, on days when I have access to a car, I usually have a running list of “car relevant drop-offs/errands” to take care of. Having a car has also kept me out of a lot of trouble. When there are options of things to do that aren’t easy to get to, I have to ask myself: “Is this event really worth going all the way across town for? Shouldn’t I be working on my book instead?”

One bummer of going car free is that I really like Trader Joe’s, but the nearest one is still too far to walk to even with the shopping cart and they don’t do delivery. I could go there with my bike and its tiny basket, but it’s not big enough to buy the things I like. I am still getting used to shopping in proper proportions. I suffer from what I call “Oh my god, what if I can’t get to another grocery store for a few weeks!” shopping syndrome. I’ll buy too much food for fear that I won’t get to a grocery store again in my life. And then I find myself frantically trying to eat all my food before it goes bad.

I was definitely afraid of not having something to get me around town in a jiffy. And could I go after my big lofty goals in Los Angeles if I wasn’t going 60mph like everyone else in this city? Being solo and spontaneous is trickier. Getting to Hollywood is more than one bus line. At night, this can be very intimidating. I also have a lot of props and crap that I use in my show that I can’t just bring on the bus with me. So I have to coordinate with friends to get their car or go get the zipcar and then do my deliveries.

Also, I love the idea of the zipcar service but it’s also stressful to return cars on time. At $10 an hour, I have to really be “on it” to get to the car on time, and also figure out how to use the rental for all the money it’s worth, and then there’s the stress of returning it in time. Late fees start at $50/hr (though you can extend reservations by phone) so there’s usually a panic when I’m stuck in traffic trying to return the car.

Also, talking on the phone while on the bus can be a little sticky if you are talking to people you are trying to do business with. The automated voice on the bus and the wheels can be pretty loud. I was on the phone with my manager and he was like, “Um, where are you?!” and I was initially embarrassed to tell him it was the bus. But he knew how much I hated my car, so he doesn’t care as long as I do the work I’m supposed to get done.

On car-dependent people.

I never cared about what car I owned or what kind of cars other people drive. But I did become conscious of seeming “poor” or “helpless” without a car. And I do sometimes feel a little helpless. And I still deal with people thinking, “What’s wrong with Kristina? Why doesn’t she own a car? Is she broke? What happened to her old car?” But I just respond with, “I’m over car owning, and this is all research for my new show.” People believe me. It’s fine.

I was worried that I’d have difficulty dating or being social if I was car less but it hasn’t been an issue. It’s actually been more fun to not have a car because I can just jump into cars and hitch rides to things with friends, rather than worry about “oh man, is my car going to be ok?” or “Ugh, where am I going to park?” Also, as far as dating goes, I figure if they aren’t willing to pick me up, they aren’t really worth the time.

What I’m finding though is that friends have been pretty sympathetic and want to drive me home rather than know they left a woman alone at night at a bus stop. It’s fun to talk to people on the ride home. I’ve gotten stock tips and real estate advice and caught up with friends who I don’t spend enough time with that way.

Advice for the car-free curious.

I recommend that people look up their neighborhoods on walkscore.com to get an idea of the businesses in their neighborhood. My neighborhood is actually an 88! That’s the same score as my friend’s place in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It’s not a totally accurate site, but it does point out a lot of the businesses in your neighborhood. My life changed when I saw that there was a bar within walking distance of my home! It’s a little hole in the wall called “Del’s Saloon” that I didn’t know was there before! Now stumbling home drunk is easier that ever before!

People in LA always complain that “Los Angeles if filled with phony fake ass people?” Guess what? Those complainers obviously have never taken the bus! The Metro is teeming with lots of “real people” you have never met from the driver’s seat. You don’t know Los Angeles until you are sitting next to a guy trying to transport two trash bags full of cans and a cat in a totebag on the bus.

It’s really helpful to have a blackberry or iphone when you are carfree to look up bus routes on metro.net when you are on the go. I can also reserve Zipcars from my blackberry. I also recommend keeping the number of a cab service that takes credit cards on your phone too, in case.

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green LA girl’s notes: Kristina’s handily tagged all her car-free posts under “Wong Sans Wheels Chronicles,” so follow her car-free adventures! Kristina also blogs about politics, her shows, and her personal life.

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