mbeam

When I lived in Santa Barbara, I decided to try out living as a one car couple with my wife Jackie after my ‘95 Saturn died at 200,000 miles. Since Jackie has had the longer commute in both CA and OH, I have been living mostly car free as far as my commute is concerned. In Santa Barbara I often rode the MTD bus system. UCSB had a great alternative transportation program that gave employees that either carpooled or biked free use of their small fleet of hybrid cars on campus and a free bus pass. Taking the bus in SB made my commute about an hour long, which really gave me a nice chance to make good use of my etymotic earbuds, I began listening to a podcast or album each way and save about $25 a week on gas.

When I arrived in Columbus, it was nice to have only a 4 minute walk to the bus station, rather than a 25 minute walk. My total trip from door to door took about 20 minutes. As an OSU student, my ID allows me free use of the COTA bus system (paid for in part by student fees). My bus here runs less frequently than Santa Barbara, about once every 50 minutes, which makes commuting somewhat awkward–but the buses have been clean an efficient. Later last school year I began walking some days–which would take me about 25 minutes.

Early this summer I was lucky enough to find a nice road bike in great condition for $15 at a garage sale in German Village (1987 Centurion Sport DLX). After cleaning it up, it’s treated me very well. I’ve been trying to bike exclusively for both work and errands. The web has some really great resources for Columbus bikers:

Columbus Trails and Greenways — This page is a wonderful guide to the extensive bike trails in our area
Consider Biking — An active local forum of bikers
The Third Hand Bicycle Co-Op — A group that has education sessions and helps with bike repairs

My commute to campus now takes about 6 minutes door to door and I don’t have to rely on a schedule. I can get almost anywhere I need to go in less than 30 minutes, including downtown or the outer suburbs, and in the meantime I’m getting good exercise. While I was in DC for AEJMC I was able to get a nice bike for Jackie, so now we’ve been biking together and it has been great fun. I’ve been biking with a backpack, but that can be uncomfortable and sweaty, so I am getting a bike rack and pannier for the upcoming school year. I’m also going to use milk crates for both J & I’s bikes to put groceries and other things in while running errands (eventually I’ll upgrade to a grocery pannier).

I highly recommend living a car free lifestyle. While it is certainly better for the environment, it’s also good for your body and your mind. It really does impact your pace of life and in my opinion, for the better.