A series featuring car-free women in LA.

Rosemary B. of Booking It Bus Style

Basics: 26-year-old editor. Lives in Los Feliz with a boyfriend, who’s car-dependent. Child free.

Car free since: October 2008.

Blogging since: February 2009.

Notable post: Kindness of strangers, or flirting 101 and TLC’s What Not to Wear and Blossom’s Mayim Bialik!

_____

On going car-free….

I’d been toying with the idea of selling my car since July 2008. But growing up in Southern California really conditions its residents to love driving. When I was 16, I couldn’t wait to get a car and once I did, it was bliss. Independence, freedom, access to Del Taco drive thrus whenever. Fantastic. With this mentality ingrained, I associated my car with my freedom and independence. Way to go, car marketing specialists.

[But] my 2004 Focus had problems from the time I drove it off the lot. Thankfully, most were covered by my warranty so I rarely had to pay for repairs. Often my car would be in the shop one week, out the next and then back in. Very frustrating. I still had places I needed to go, of course, and often rented cars. Lots of cars. These were sometimes covered by the warranty, sometimes not.

After my car went for a pretty long stretch without problems (about 2 months or so) my dad offered to buy my car from me. My younger brother had recently got his permit and they planned on teaching him to drive
in my small hatchback instead of my dad’s behemoth truck.

My dad bought the car and in some strange form of automobile justice, it was totaled four days later. Thankfully, no one was hurt but the lemon was finally dragged off the the junkyard.

I’d like to say that I’m car free mostly for environmental reasons. But the truth is that I couldn’t afford car expenses (car payments, insurance, gas) on top of my already overstretched budget — rent, student loans, AMEX and the like.

But then I realized that I could still go where I wanted and when. Of course I’d need to check the metro schedule first. The freedom of choice still existed but simply required a bit more effort. And, it’s actually kind of cool to live in such a metropolitan city and take public transportation. My best friend who lives in Salem, Oregon thinks I’m especially hip and city-fied.

How she gets around.

The bus has absolutely become my number one mode of transport. I bus it to and from work. Occasionally, a co-worker will see me waiting at a stop and offer me a ride. Interestingly, I’m earlier to work these days than when I drove.

My company pays for my monthly pass. I know, I know, I’m quite the lucky duck. But really, it’s only fair. They pay for parking in the office building for those with cars so why shouldn’t the same courtesy be extended to car-free peeps?

I live the very pedestrian friendly Los Feliz. The library, grocery store, hair salon, pet store, post office and every sort of restaurant are all within a 15 minute walk. For things a bit farther, I’m quite fortunate to have bus stops practically outside of my building. Though I do wish the 780 had more stops in Los Feliz — the measly two (Vermont/Prospect and Los Feliz/Riverside) are so limiting.

Lately, I’ve been searching craigslist for the perfect little bicycle to run errands close to home.

I’ve not driven since giving up my car. Occasionally, I’ll move a friend’s car from the driveway to the street but that’s about it. But I don’t think the whole 10 feet or so of travel qualify as officially driving? I don’t drive [my boyfriend's] car for several reasons. 1. It’s a stick shift. I’m perfectly fine driving manual on flat roads or even freeways. But our neighborhood is so darn hilly that I’m sure I’d have anxiety attacks anticipating myself rolling into the car behind me.

But, the biggest reason I don’t drive his car is because I’m technically forbidden. As it turns out, due to an itsy bitsy minor fender bender that I got into on the curvy stretch of Sunset behind UCLA in 2006, I’m ineligible for [my boyfriend's insurance company's] coverage. They not only rejected me as a potential client, they also sent him a letter explaining that should I get into an accident while driving his car, coverage would be invalid!

On the upsides and downsides….

Certainly saving money and making up for past smog contributions were my top reasons for giving up the car. Once I got rid of my car, though, an incredible thing happened. I was no longer stressed about money. I didn’t feel guilty going to an expensive dinner or buying new clothes. Very shortly after I gave up the car, I splurged at The Grove and bought a top from Anthropologie, shoes from Nordstrom and a bunch of fun cheapy jewelry from Forever 21. It was a hassle lugging all my bags on the bus, but what guilt free fun!

I used to worry that I’d left my car unlocked. I’d be sitting in class or at the office or at home and after hemming and hawing endlessly, I’d finally race to my car to find it locked. Naturally. Now that the car’s gone, these sorts of annoyances are toast. Love it.

I never realized how horribly stressful driving is. The honking alone is enough to drive someone to drink. Honestly, I don’t know why everyone in LA feels the need to honk over the most trivial thing. Like how dare someone wait a millisecond after the light turns green to floor it into the intersection. Or honking to say “Hey Jerkface, you didn’t let me over so now I’m going to honk honk hooonnnnk at you! Take that!” It’s so unnecessary. To be rid of all that insanity is a delight.

The bus lines are amazingly easy to navigate. I used to be pretty intimidated by them. But lately, I’ve been taking new lines with no problem at all. A few weeks back, I needed to take a bus from the office to a doctors appointment in Beverly Hills and then take a bus home to Los Feliz. Piece of cake.

By far, the best thing about busing is the reading. I’ve read more since switching to the bus than than I ever have in my life. It seems so luxurious, I get to read leisurely while someone else deals with the nasty traffic. My commute in the morning is just under an hour while the ride home can take up to an hour and a half. All of this time, usually is devoted to reading. I feel really lucky.

I’ve seen the city in a whole new light. When you’re driving, you’re focused on the road, other drivers, the radio station, whatever. And when you’re in car with someone else who is driving, it’s kind of rude to stare out the window, right? But when you’re on the bus, you can look up and down the streets at anything and no one will think less of you. It’s cliche, yes, but I see something new everyday. Last week, while at a red light, I noticed a poster of a hair model in the window of a cheesy salon — the model was a guy I went to school with! I had no idea he went into modeling! Hurray for him.

I’ve always been an avid people watcher. Though, aren’t we all? On the bus, on the way home from work, people really let down their guard. You can tell what a rough day someone’s had by the way a head leans to the side on a tired neck. Conversely, it’s sometimes adorable (and yes, sometimes vomit inducing) to see a couple cooing romantically. It’s odd, the bus is both a private and wholly public space. You’re given such little personal space; but even so limited, even while busing it, I think people reveal their true selves. The way a person carries their shoulders, sleeping, staring straight ahead, putting on makeup, even reading while riding the bus says something about our individualities. I’m quite curious to know what my fellow riders think of me…if I’m even on their radars.

I try to run during my lunch hour so I’ll usually carry a gym bag with me on the bus. When it’s not crowded, usually the morning commutes, no problem at all. But if it’s a packed ride home, the bag becomes such a pain. You’ll get dirty stares from riders equating the space your bag occupies with lost leg room or some nonsense.

What really stinks is that there are some lunatics who coast metro. Serious nut cases. I’ve only had one experience when a truly deranged individual singled me out and made me feel horribly uncomfortable. For the most part, though, crazy riders usually spout off at imaginary friends or poor suckers who accidentally make eye contact with them. Reading helps, if you’re concentrating on a book, they’ll usually pass you by. In all honesty, 99% of my bus adventures are uneventful and not scary at all.

After reading through Cassandra’s amazing Car Free Monday Post, I realized that, hello, there are just as many (if not more!) nutty people driving on the roads. And these monsters use their vehicles to express their aggression! Tail-gaters, honkers, people who speed up to pull up next to you so they can flip you off? What’s up with that?!

A lot of my friends live in Orange County. I thought that giving up the car would mean I’d see them less since I couldn’t head down there nearly as much. However, they’ve all been such sports about driving up to visit me! They love the idea of walking to restaurants, shops etc.

On car-dependent people.

When I tell someone I take the bus, they give me these looks full of pity and concern. As if I’m too delicate to take the bus or above it somehow. Clearly, I’m neither. Sure, there are times I freak out at a heated situation but just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I should be sheltered from such harsh realities.

Someone once said to me “Ugh! You’re taking the bus?! With the dregs of society?!” But it’s not that way at all. Busers are no different from car drivers. Except I suppose, they’ve got a bit of extra green in their wallets from not dropping cash on car expenses.

Advice for the car-free curious.

Bring a book. It’s the best defense against unwanted attention. Don’t bother with a magazine (unless it’s something without pictures) because someone will no doubt look over and try to start conversation based on the photo spread. Big sunglasses also help.

And unless you’ve got awesome posture and balance, don’t bother wearing heels—or even wedges while busing. I usually wear flats and change into heels once I get to work.

Check the metro schedules before you leave. Buses are generally on time, I’ve found. Before you know it, you’ll have your line’s schedule memorized.
____

green LA girl’s notes: If you love situational comedy or observational humor, you’ll love Rosemary‘s blog, which shows bus riding with all its familiar and unexpected experiences. “So often friends would ask me about my bus experiences and I’d struggle to come up with any fun stories,” Rosemary says. “But blogging is so immediate; I’d whip out a post just an hour or so after a funny/scary/cute/weird bus adventure. With the blog, I’m able to flex my writing muscles more than I ever have before.”

Booking It Bus Style sometimes gets off the bus to cover other car-free aspects of Rosemary’s life.

Photo by Denise Chacon

9 Comments

A series featuring car-free women in LA.

Cassandra Davis of Bawdy the Squirrel

Basics: 27-year-old training coordinator for online software applications. Lives in San Pedro with a partner, who’s car-dependent. Child free.

Car free since: June or July 2005.

Blogging since: 2006.

Notable post: Tap That Pass.
_____

On going car-free….

Around September 2004 I stopped using my car for most things, although it was around June or July 2005 that I officially sold my car. While returning from a trip up north, the door latch for my driver’s side door broke and made it impossible to keep the door securely closed. I was at a gas station, about two hours away from home, at 4 in the morning, and I couldn’t close my car door. I made it home, with a combination of willpower, rope, and luck, but that drive home was the most terrifying experience I’ve ever had behind a wheel.

On the way home I realized that I had lost the illusion of safety that cars carry, and I began to consider living without one. Now I live with a partner who owns a car, but I spent many years where I lived alone and car-free.

There are certain freedoms you have with a car – the idea that you can drive anywhere, see anything, do anything – which very few people exercise on a daily basis. In reality, most people take the same route, run the same errands, follow the same path every day.

When I gave up my car, I reduced my frivolous spending. Yes, I consider the $500 – $1000 per month cost of a basic car (payment, insurance, registration, gas, maintenance) to be frivolous. I also noticed that food stopped going bad in my fridge (I stopped buying things I couldn’t carry home = stopped buying more than I would eat). I stopped having $200 Target/Costco/Ikea trips for things I didn’t need (the Goodwill/Salvation Army stores were much closer, and I became much pickier about what I wore and had in my house). I stopped eating fast food (they really aren’t designed for people who are walking anymore). It was much faster to stop for a quick bagel, sandwich, or grab a piece of fruit.

I lost about 30 pounds, and gained about $10,000 a year.

How she gets around.

Walking is probably my primary mode of transportation. [To get to work] I carpool or ride the bus. My bus line travels along the rapid route of the 110. It takes about an hour and 10 minutes, with 1 transfer, which is about the same amount of time as driving alone (carpooling takes about 30 – 40 minutes). It is still better (and even cheaper) to carpool now. The bus routes that travel along the 110 are faster, but they also cost an additional $1.20 per trip, which is not covered by a monthly pass.

I am able to use the car anytime I choose, but 99.9% of the time I still prefer to walk or bike, or even to take the bus. [I have] one nephew-in-law who is three. We do need to bring a car to pick him up from his preschool, as the trip home is too far for him to walk, or even sit still long enough to be safe (ie: on the back of a bike and/or person). For those times it is difficult to leave the car at home, especially since there is no bus system which covers the area of his preschool. However, for everything else, it is easy to take him along on walks, and we’re hoping to get him riding his bicycle soon.

On the upsides and downsides….

[When] I lived alone and had two cats, I was primarily worried about getting their food, litter, and vet visits in. At the same time, I was worried that, I wouldn’t have the freedom to go see a friend’s play, or hang out at the bar. Boy was I wrong on both counts.

I was able to convince my closest grocery store to carry both the litter (Yesterday’s News – made of recycled newspapers, and wonderful because it doesn’t get tracked all over the house, but very hard to find!) and cat food that my cats enjoyed. This was easier than I thought it would be; all I had to do was talk to the manager.

As far as seeing friends and going out – I was able to find many, many new spots along the bus lines I preferred, or in walking or biking distance. I didn’t have to freak out about DUIs or how much I drank, and I was many times even able to make it to LACMA and other places faster than anyone else because I wasn’t having to struggle with traffic or parking!

I didn’t think of how much money I would save. Sure, I knew I was spending about $25 (give or take, depending on the gas prices) every time I filled up my tank, and that totaled to about $50 a month. So that was all I thought about saving, since my car was paid off (a bus pass was about that price – $52 – when I started, and my company paid $50 of that). In the end, I saved about $10,000 per year – I wasn’t paying insurance, registration, parking costs, cleaning costs, or maintenance, and I was buying fewer THINGS that I didn’t need. It was amazing.

Yes, doctor’s offices can be tricky. I was referred to a specialist while with Blue Cross, and had to rent a car to go there, since it was so far out of my way. I used to keep a Flexcar account – then I figured out it was much cheaper for me to rent a car for a day from my local Budget rent-a-car when I really needed it. But I also found out how empowering it was to rearrange doctor’s appointments or vet appointments to my schedule and my needs. If something didn’t fit, I canceled it and found another way. This made life a lot easier.

Actually, the hardest thing about not having a car was finding a Trader Joe’s that was close enough for me to buy Frozen Foods – then I discovered the double blessing of insulated reusable bags and the Trader Joe’s in WeHo (just off of the Santa Monica Blvd rapid line).

Another problem was visiting friends in the Valley. The transportation to and from the Valley is still very difficult from the West Side (or anywhere other than downtown). Instead we all started discovering places in downtown, NoHo, and even Hollywood that we could hang out and have a good time. I wound up finding a lot of neat places that way.

It was unexpectedly easy to stop those needless trips of convenience to stores like Target or Kmart to pick up “one thing”… you know, those trips where you walk away with another $100 worth of things you don’t really need. It was easy to start walking a little bit farther to catch a faster line, or to get off the bus a few stops early and explore the neighborhood.

It was unexpectedly harder to get around to certain areas. Before the FlyAway bus from UCLA started, I was amazed at how difficult it was to get from the West Side to LAX – a 20-30 minute drive! In fact, to get anywhere along the 405 almost always involved going into downtown and then heading back out. The fact that we have very strong transportation lines branching out from downtown didn’t surprise me; but the fact that we have very few lines connecting these strong systems just floored me.

San Pedro  is a very walk-friendly community, although it is more difficult to be car-free than it was in West Los Angeles. While I have supermarkets, bars, restaurants, and even entertainment (the port of LA, theaters, and beaches) within easy walking distance (some within a few blocks of my house), I can see many people still needing a car. This is primarily because many businesses (larger grocery stores, gyms, clothing stores, etc) are located “up the hill”, about 2-3 miles away, and there are very few paths which are walking-friendly to get there.

The other hard part is managing the ride to/from other areas of Los Angeles. A 20 minute ride to Long Beach (just across the port) takes 40+ minutes on a convoluted bus route. Traveling to Palos Verdes, which is a 5-minute drive, is even more difficult, and involves an almost U-shaped route. On the other hand, the port runs the red trolley cars on the weekend, has a nice farmer’s market, and lots of art galleries and other nice places to visit.

On car-dependent people.

This question drives me crazy. The question is always “Why don’t you have a car?” – when very, very few people ever stop to ask themselves “Why do I have a car?”

I’m not the only one who is car-free at my work, but I’m probably the youngest. A lot of people take a minute to process the fact that I don’t have a car. Most of the time I can even identify the conclusion they jump to:

1) You’re too poor?
2) You got a DUI?
3) You got in a bad accident?
4) (very, very rarely) Oh, you just don’t need one. Cool.

As far as being female – I get a large number of people telling me the public transportation is too dangerous, too dirty, or involves too many crazy people. Most of the time I just look at them funny and ask if they’ve ever been on an LA Freeway. Sure, there are uncomfortable moments, but they all have their driving counterparts, and you deal with them the same way – by ignoring them. A smelly person in front of you (much like that diesel truck you accidentally got stuck behind on the road), someone loud right next to you (that guy with the broken muffler), someone a little creepy (that car that got off the freeway on your exit and followed you a few blocks).

But I don’t ever feel like my life is in physical danger (unlike the sudden sobering moment when you witness an accident first-hand) – I’ve taken self-defense courses, and my lines have the safety-in-numbers thing going for them, as do most of the lines in LA. Even on the days I’ve journeyed into East LA or skid row (and I have done both, intentionally or not), I still feel safer on the bus with other people than I’d ever feel alone in a car.

Besides, riding in a car doesn’t let me read, and there isn’t anyone who will smile at me, or tell me to have a good day.

Advice for the car-free curious.

Take a book.

No, seriously, take a book. Find a good one. It give you the perfect excuse to ignore people if you want to, but if you avoid the iPod earphones you are still open to conversations (although you can feel free to take those too).

Get used to carrying a little bag – honestly, a backpack is usually more practical than a purse I think – and fill it with useful things: a pen and paper, a little re-useable tote bag (comes in handy if you want to stop for shopping at the spur of the moment, or if you just have to carry something extra), some gum, a book, a granola bar, your ipod. Not that you need all of these things, but they can be useful.

Don’t forget to give yourself a little umbrella during rainy seasons, and having a smart phone really does help – metro.net will tell you when the next bus is arriving, or help you rearrange a route when needed.

And talk to your work about buying your bus pass. Mine pays $50 out of the $62 monthly pass, leaving me paying a whopping $12 per month. It is hard to pass up a deal like that, but I ran into quite a few coworkers who didn’t know about it.

If you’re really nervous about committing to being car free, try just doing little things. Commit to yourself that you’ll try taking the bus (don’t forget your handy kit-o-helpful things I mentioned above) somewhere, then try it at least five times (in other words, if you have a bad time on one experience, don’t let it ruin your chances for good). I think it is easier to ride the rapid busses and subways, but everyone has their own needs and opinions.

Once you’ve gotten over the first step (taking the bus in the first place), then look at your trips. Can you ditch your car to go to work? To the grocery store? Can you walk? Ride a bike? Force yourself to never take a car starting with one trip, then move on to the next trip. Sometimes keeping your car as a safety net for at least a little while makes sense – most people do that. But those people usually get rid of their cars sooner or later…
____

green LA girl’s notes: Cassandra Davis is the creative mind behind green LA girl’s header design!Thanks Cass!

Cass describes her blog, Bawdy the Squirrel, thusly: How to survive in LA without a car (if you’re a squirrel). “[The blog]  started as just a fun way to show some of my younger relatives that yes, you can get around LA without a car,” Cass says. Read Bawdy the Squirrel for cute pictures of Bawdy and for tips on how to tap that pass.

9 Comments

A series featuring car-free women in LA.

Nicole of One day at a time

Basics: 27-year-old paralegal. Lives in Los Feliz with her boyfriend, who’s car-dependent. Child-free.

Car free since: June 2008, plus 2 brief periods before that.

Blogging since: June 2008.

Notable post: Photos from my walk around Peoria.
_____

On going car-free….

I was car free from June 2004 – Feb 2005, then again from October 2005 through February 2007. I sold my car in June of 2008 because I relocated to Illinois (where I grew up). Suffered through half a winter, and realized how much I missed California. And my boyfriend, as less-than-feminist as that sounds. We got back together and I came back to LA in December of 2008. He has a spare car that I have access to, but hardly ever drive. I’ve driven twice since December.

[Being car-free] boils down to time, money, and environmentalism for me. I love how much money I am able to save by not having a car, and my red line commute (along with marathon training) is keeping me in great shape. Also, it feels good to have reclaimed some of the time lost sitting in traffic. At least I can read a book while waiting for a bus.

I also love knowing that my lifestyle is putting less carbon dioxide into the world, but I may end up purchasing a car at some point later this year.

How she gets around.

I walk from my apartment to the red line (it takes 20 minutes) and take the red line from Los Feliz to Koreatown. The train ride is about 7 minutes. The red line is great. It gets me home, to work, and to plenty of social events in downtown and Hollywood.

[Los Feliz] definitely makes being car free easier. I can walk to hiking trails or the many great restaurants and bars in the area.

Previously, I lived in Palms without a car, and found it very difficult to meet up with friends in other parts of the city. I really had to figure out how to make my public transit dependence work for me. I was fresh out of college with an entry level salary, and I just didn’t want to be tied to car payments. Right now, I haven’t actively been car shopping because I don’t feel a strong [need] for a car. Having access to my boyfriend’s spare helps, not because I drive often, but because I know a car is available if a doctor’s appointment comes up, or if I want to drive to the beach or a hiking trail on the Westside.

On the upsides and downsides….

The benefits for me are saving money, being forced to walk, and (the most interesting one, I think) getting to engage with LA in a way that many residents never will — as a pedestrian and bus rider. Being able to get around the city with out driving has given me a tremendous opportunity to really take in all the sights in a way that I couldn’t if I had to watch the road. I definitely feel less stressed when I arrive at work without having to fight traffic.

I think my experiences having to navigate LA via public transit when I first moved here in 2004 helped me to get my bearings and limited the amount of patience that I have for sitting in traffic alone as a driver. The collective number of productive hours that this city’s residents lose sitting in traffic still blows me away– I know that there are viable alternatives, such as choosing to live close enough to work to commute via public transit. I think living car free in LA also triggered my curiosity in urban planning– I want to learn more about how the elements of a city interact and affect the city’s aesthetics and quality of life.

Going car free really isn’t that easy. I have a huge purse to carry around everything I need for the day, since I can’t throw things in a car trunk. Simple errands like going to the gym or grocery store can be an ordeal in this city if you don’t live in a pedestrian-friendly area.

I think the metro trains are great because they really keep to their posted schedules. The metro and dash buses are very, very unpredictable, so you really need to give yourself a large cushion of time if you plan on using them for anything you need to be on time to.

I think the worst thing that happened to me as a result of being car free was being robbed at a bus stop in Palms. The robber was unarmed, and actually didn’t get my wallet, but the experience was very scary, and I ended up wanting to own a car after that (and did purchase one), even though I know the same sort of robberies occur in parking garages, etc.

On car-dependent people.

Many people have looked at me like I’m crazy when I tell them I don’t have a car. Unfortunately, as wonderful as LA is, it can be a very status-obsessed place, and I think some people may have a hard time understanding that someone who can afford a car would choose not to own one. Not that there is anything wrong with not being able to afford a car, of course.

I appreciate LA so much more as a pedestrian/public transit rider than I did when I was alone in my car, stuck on the 10 on my way to work.

Advice for the car-free curious.

Try it out temporarily. Move to a pedestrian friendly area like Santa Monica, Los Feliz, or Hollywood. If you want to save up a nest egg quickly, six months without gas, insurance, and a car payment can do wonders. Be prepared to take a cab when its late at night — it isn’t worth it to be standing on a dark corner waiting for a bus that may take an hour to show up.

____

green LA girl’s notes: While Nicole doesn’t blog much about being car free, she says “references to pedestrianism have worked their way in” to her blog, One day at a time.

I’d love to hear more about WTF she’s carrying in her purse that makes it so damn big and heavy to the point that it’s impeding her mobility (clean that shit out, girl!), and why she’s considering buying a car this year, despite her big upping the de-car’d lifestyle and saying she doesn’t really need one. I’m not judging — I’m just curious what the motivations are, as they’re not clear from the interview.

I really don’t see any connection between car ownership and robberies: A number of my friends have been robbed at one time or another in L.A. — and all of them own cars. I’ve never been robbed — but I have had to deal with theft, most annoyingly the theft of my car engine computer — twice! Those thefts actually led me to my car-free experiment.

I suppose you’re less likely to be robbed when you’re encased in a locked car and moving at 60 mph than when you’re walking around and engaging with the world, but unless you’re willing to severely limit your entire life to enclosed, locked spaces, never stepping out of your home, office, or their attendant locked garages and parking lots, you’ll need to just practice good common sense and accept the fact that sometimes bad things happen to good people.
__

Are you a car-free woman living in the L.A.-area? Email me at greenlagirl@gmail.com to participate in the Car Free Mondays series!

0 Comments

A series featuring car-free women in LA.

Ele Munjeli of The Bikex Database

Basics: 38-year-old who works at a computer store, and sometimes works catering events at a private club in Pasadena. Lives child-free in downtown Los Angeles, a couple blocks north of Staples Center.

Car free since: Always, though she did have a couple of motorcycles when 21-22 years old.
_____

On going car-free….

When I was eighteen I started traveling. I went to visit my grandmother in Costa Rica, then kept going. For the next ten years, I was in and out of the US. I went through Indonesia on cargo ships, hitchhiked across Malaysia, just kind of wandered. In this part of my life, cars weren’t a part of the general culture. I started cycling seriously in 1994 because my brother, Tim, is an expert cyclist, and he gave me a bike to quit smoking.

I settled down in Hawaii in 1998 with a recumbent bike and was doing 200 hundred miles a week. Ironically, I became a professional driver for six years; my employer pushed me into it because he didn’t have anyone else on staff he trusted to drive a truck. A few years later I got a license to drive a motorcoach. I loved my passengers, but the driving was tedious, and I was always glad to get on my bike for the 10 mile ride home at the end of the day.

I moved to LA in 2007 to go back to school for audio engineering and was thinking again of getting a car. The thing is, I was an environmentalist, and enthusiastic supporter of slow food. I came to a point where ethically, I just didn’t want to support the car culture.

Still, I considered it a personal choice, and not a moral imperative: I generally claimed to be cycling for exercise, and felt my car free status was a personal idiosyncrasy. Then one day in class, at a point when gas cost nearly five dollars, the instructor and the students started complaining about the whole petroleum problem. Something in me just snapped and I said “These issues are the result of your actions: you support that President and the War every time you put the nozzle in the tank. I have never owned a car, and you don’t have to either.”

I decided a few days later that I would never buy a car until I could have clean transportation that supported my beliefs. Making that commitment has been like a weight off my shoulders. I’m proud of my car free status, because I am trying to live as an example of my beliefs.

How she gets around.

I bike or walk everywhere.I bike to work at both my jobs. The commute to the computer store is almost 7 miles each way, and via the route I usually take, the commute to my job in Pasadena is just shy of 15 miles each way. I ride between 100 and 200 miles a week.

I’ll use Metro if my bike breaks down or sometimes for a longer distance (like to Long Beach) if I don’t want to ride. I haven’t driven in almost two years, but I would if I had a reason. In the past I’ve occasionally rented cars when I wanted to make a trip or move.

On the upsides and downsides….

The quality of life I enjoy as a cyclist is amazing. One day, I was riding down a street in Koreatown, and I passed a lovely young woman and her little girl. They were both prettily turned out in dresses and the little girl, maybe 4 years old, had a giant red balloon. As I was riding by she accidentally let go of the balloon and the wind blew it into and across the street. They both just stood and watched with dismay. The mother couldn’t let go of her child and run in the street. Also she was in heels. I chased the balloon on my bike, jumped off, grabbed it and brought it back. They cheered and we all were so happy. Its the kind of interaction you can’t have as a car driver, you’re too heavy and clumsy in the street.

[Downtown's] a great place to be car free. There’s good restaurants, museums, and other attractions within walking distance. I live close by the Red and Blue line trains. Riding a bike downtown is a blast. On the weekends and nights its empty and I can just cruise, but I even enjoy the bump and jam of Main street or Broadway during the rush hour. The traffic gets tied up and doesn’t move fast. Most of the drivers are good; there’s pedestrians all over the place and they have to be aware. I pity the fools driving around the block or paying outrageous fees just to shelter their hunk of metal.

I don’t worry about my weight and I eat like a horse. I hate hearing women talk about “oo..its so high fat!” Who cares? Fine wines, duck, ice cream..its all just fuel to me.

I feel that I am staying younger than my peers who drive. Being a commuter cyclist is sort of an edgy lifestyle, like practicing an extreme sport. I see myself as a revolutionary, and I’m fighting for my beliefs. I haven’t sunk into the ease and complacency of middle age. I want to watch the oil age crash while riding a bike and laughing.

[Bike] maintenance is more challenging than you would think. I mostly wrench my own bike, but I put on a lot of miles, and sometimes I don’t have time to fix it or learn how. It seems like there’s always something wearing out or breaking. I’m getting better though.

It takes a fair amount of planning to get to far parties at night, sometimes I just suck it up and take a cab home if I stay out past Metro’s hours. I always live in a building with a laundry, because laundry trips on a bike are awful. I do my shopping with big bike shopping bags, but even so, I can’t always stock up as much as I would like. Trips out of town require some planning, and a place to stay if I want to ride more than sixty miles one way. The bonus: going long distances by bike (touring) is my favorite way to travel. I see so much more, and the food and bed are divine after a long day of riding.

On car-dependent people.

People do have assumptions about why I’m car-free, and they aren’t usually flattering. Sometimes they think I have D.U.I.s or are otherwise prohibited from driving. Other times I just look poor in a society that judges people by the cost of their ride. I face a fair amount of condescension: a recurring theme from the car people is the idea that they are “freer” and have more options than I do on a bike.

That’s untrue. I have traveled the world, and I’ve done it because I didn’t own a car. When I travel, I love to tour by bike, and shorter distances are more meaningful and the experience is richer. I recently rode on a weekend from Long Beach to Newport Coast, stayed the night with my brother and rode back the next day. The views along highway 1 were spectacular, and since I was traveling at a slower pace I had a chance to soak more of it in. Its my favorite way to travel.

My friends have some anxiety when I leave a party or a bar to ride 10 miles home at 2 am, but I’m afraid they’re driving drunk.

Advice for the car-free curious.

Learn to fix a flat. The Bicycle Kitchen has Monday night reserved as ladies night and you can learn to wrench your own bike in a cool space. The other DIY spaces are good for women too. Bike chics are sexy and the community is mostly men. When I hear single women complain about needing to meet men, I’m like, “Do you know how to ride a bike?” Plus, everyone’s an athlete.
___

green LA girl’s notes: Ele’s Bikex Database aims to make cycling safer by identifying and documenting unsafe drivers. If drivers push you off the road or otherwise endanger your biking ways, you can report the incident on Bikex.

Says Ele: “Driver education is a neglected aspect of cycling advocacy; yet, every accident has three factors: a driver, a cyclist, a location. You may make your neighborhood safer by identifying and prosecuting reckless drivers than building bike lanes. We need to raise awareness among drivers as to how to share the road with cyclists and respect pedestrians as well.”
__

Are you a car-free woman living in the L.A.-area? Email me at greenlagirl@gmail.com to participate in the Car Free Mondays series!

4 Comments

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.

4 Comments