I lost my car, and I’m saving a bundle

I saved over $950 this month. In a year I will have saved over $11,000! All by not having a car.

I only bought a Jeep because I was moving to this car-centric city, and then it got totalled by a kid driving his dad’s minivan while on his cellphone. Parked right in front of my house on a side street (if we had speed bumps, he would’ve had to look up! Another story for another day.)

I figured I didn’t need a car anymore — my husband and his two sons each have a vehicle. I signed up for a membership in a car sharing program to keep my insurance history up and started bicycling and walking, and taking transit, like I had been doing my whole life.

On top of the money savings, I now have $950 bucks a month to spend locally. Restaurants, local shops, other fun stuff like a Ticats game. Because I am on a bicycle, or my feet, I tend to shop locally instead of going out to the malls or the big box stores.

I am healthier, lost weight, meet a ton of people on my trip into work, cracking jokes and small talk while waiting for lights to change. So fun! Drivers on the streets toward the downtown are really good, but let’s face it, there just is better road design plus the bike lanes toward downtown.

I worked out in Stoney Creek for a while and walking was taking your life into your hands every time you tried to cross a street. The drivers aren’t bad, the street design is.

I bike in the winter (by the way, I am a 52-year-old woman, booyah!) I come from Barrie and lived in Edmonton for a while, so I feel like it’s the tropics. I dress in layers, but nothing fancy and actually you get really hot when you move. As my Scandinavian relatives say, “there’s no bad weather, just bad clothes.” No special bike, no special tires.

Because I drive, I think I have a great understanding of what drivers need to see so I ride accordingly, with manners, bright and reflective clothing and respect for the big fast things.

A study done in the U.S. found that in 2020, the total cost of traffic accidents was an average of $1,000 for each American. Probably the same here. Just think of the healthy, wealthy society we would have if we just got out of our cars and made walking and bicycling easier to do. I am not anti-car, but pro-efficiency and safe traffic, and I think it’s time we focused on building a sense of community.

Let’s face it — Hamiltonians get a kick out of each other, we like to make each other laugh more than anywhere in the country.

And as for transit, I know you think you shouldn’t have to pay if you don’t use it, but the reality is, are you going to pick up my brother in law from Stoney Creek so he can get to his job on the other side of town? Or would you rather he stay on social assistance?

Paying for welfare is extremely expensive, especially when the person could be working but just can’t get to work.

People are so used to their cars here. I get it, it’s so easy. But let’s make it possible for people who can’t afford a car or can no longer drive to walk, to bike, to take a wellfunded transit. It’s just a mind change.

I saw it happen in Toronto. When I started bicycling and walking everywhere in 1995 there, hardly anyone one else was, now everyone is bicycling and walking. Think about it. I gained 20 pounds in two years of living here and driving everywhere. Now easily shedding and not suffering to do it.