“Sales of new cars have almost halved in the US, down from nearly 11 million in 1985 to about 5.5 million in 2009. We shouldn’t take much notice of that, though. Cars last longer these days, and sales go up and down with the economy. But we have hit peak car ownership, too. And, more to the point, peak per-capita travel.” ~Fred Pearce, New Scientist
As I child, I sketched in coloured pencil the racing cars of the day (would I date myself if I mentioned Stirling Moss?) but I never caught the auto-bug, avoiding a drivers’ license until I was nearly thirty.
It seems I was ahead of the curve. The West is falling out of love with the automobile.
In the end, I think the motor car has great entertainment value as a racing vehicle—on a closed circuit, of course—but it’s the worst possible choice for mass transportation.
Nonetheless, I still occasionally enjoy the luxury of “motoring.”
Last weekend, we hosted visitors from Oregon, one of whom has worked for the city of Portland and, as a cyclist, left his mark on the renowned bicycle infrastructure there.
I was reminded of the automobile’s utility as my relative chauffeured us out in a late-model Subaru to remote Botanical Beach, near Port Renfrew, on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
The weather was atrocious.
Wind and driving rain made for some interesting sights on the beach. Seal and blue heron seemed not in the least perturbed, but after an hour we humans were glad to reach the sanctity of the car heater.
My guest deserves commendation for his white-knuckle navigation of the “Tsunami” route home, through darkness and the unabated storm.
I own a car—a 1987 Honda Accord—with over 400,000 kilometres on the clock. It’s just that I haven’t driven it in nearly 3 years (who knows if it will start).
I’m not sure that I will revive or replace it. Why would I? It just doesn’t seem practical at this point. I (deliberately) live in a village where I can walk to all amenities, and if I needed to “get away” for the weekend, or travel somewhere I couldn’t ride in time, there’s always rental or car-share.
This infographic estimates the cost of maintaining and repairing a 4-cylinder motor vehicle over 193,000 kilometres (120,000 mi.) at a staggering $24,236.
I just asked the waiter here (I’m writing at The Heron Rock Bistro) if he owns a car.
“No,” he replied, “I’m saving for a condo.” Even in a volatile economy, that’s likely a much better investment than one that depreciates dramatically, as soon as you drive it off the lot.
Do you own a car? Is it worth it?
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Bless me oh web-master for I have sinned, I have never had a drivers license or owned a car. The result of this flagrant abuse of capitalism is I have more funds for bike parts and imbibing fermented elixirs. My stress level is reduced and I’ m consoled by the sticker ‘Any idiot can drive a car” My life certainly has been enriched by the bicycle, and I’m grateful! Yours in cycling, Amen.
Hallelujah, brother!
As informative as that infographic is, there’s no way you could drive 193,000 km in Canada for $24,000. For one thing, our fuel prices are way higher, and nobody average 30 mpg — to do that, you’d have to drive at 90 km/h all the time and never hit a red light. For another thing, this leaves out insurance and registration. Still, a summary of the repair and maintenance costs is very interesting.
I’m sometimes shocked at how cheap cars and spare parts actually are. This article estimates that tires will last 64,000 km and only cost $370 a set. The tires I use on my bike cost something like $140 a set and I’m lucky if they last 5000 km. Put another way, four steel belted car tires cost about half a cent per km and 2 Panaracer Paselas cost about 2.5 cents per km.
In India, you can buy a Tata Nano car for $3,000 and it comes equipped with fenders and alternator-powered headlights, not to mention all those other doodads that make up even the cheapest of cars. How much did you spend on your last bike?
There are certainly estimates in there that are questionable, on either side of the equation, but it certainly raises questions.
As gas prices continue to rise, less and less people will be able to answer my last question with a “yes.”
As for your last query, let’s just say I’ve never spent more on a car than my best bikes.
I’m not convinced “the west” is falling out of love with the car. CBC had a poll last year that said Canadians are willing to give up most everything BUT their car.
I do wonder about the younger generation or even my generation (the 25 crowd). Polls conducted a few years back suggested younger people are more willing to take transit and spend money on tech toys rather then purchase a car. Likewise with rather purchasing a home/condo.
I still don’t have a drivers license and honestly can’t see getting one. I was practically celebrating in the streets in the summer when Ontario FINALLY got a provincial photo ID card!
I remember the day my Dad’s car died (literately just outside the driveway). He managed to get it up the driveway, then it sat there for two years and didn’t move once until the day he decided to sell it to a scrap dealer. No car for either of us since.
I do wish that our train system was equal to that in other parts of the world.
According to the linked article, we are less inclined to drive these days, and it is your generation that are setting the trend.
I haven’t renewed my drivers’ licence this last time, so I guess I should do that, or look for other “proof” I exist 🙂
Most excellent! I recently sold my truck. I don’t pay for gas (well, occasionally when I need to borrow my wife’s Subaru), license, annual tax and other fees, parking, etc. In rainy Seattle it would seem hard to go without an auto, but honestly, every day I grow more resilient to owning one and laugh at the traffic.
Sounds like you’re in a car-share program with your wife, DD.
I think the mass of monster houses with 4-car garages are history.
Cycling through Germany, particularly the old West Germany, I expected to see very little wilderness. Well, it’s not quite wild, but there is a lot of green space. Towns that developed centuries ago dot the landscape. They are dense urban areas with lots of farm and wood land between them. Services developed around foot, horse, and train transport.
Contrast that to western North America, where for the most part, the automobile has been an integral part of our city development. Our living space is based on the greatest separation from our neighbours. Look at the number of 5 acre (or bigger) subdivisions. The automobile has allowed us to spread out without regard to the transportation cost. Our service infrastructure is much more expensive to install, and we’ve built on a lot of our agricultural land, just because it was easy.
Today we pay the price –import our food, high transportation costs, smog, suburban blight. We should follow the older European model–live in compact communities with readily accessible services, and save the land for other uses. Cycle or walk to the train (or bus) station. Use public transit. It is so convenient when you have a network of nodal communities.
The sad part of this? Modern Europe seems to be adopting the North American model, as super malls near the motorways are replacing the village shops. “Unprofitable” rail lines are closing, forcing people to use cars.
PS. You should see the “no speed limit” on the autobahn when it is jammed, everyone going as fast as they want, so long as it isn’t over 30km/hr!
I grew up in an English village, where everything was within walking distance and public transportation–busses and trains–served the community well. Very few people used cars for local commuting.
All that’s changed now, of course, but those regions will have far less difficulty adapting to rising fuel costs (though they already pay much more than we do for the luxury) and the resulting shrinkage of personal auto use.
On the other hand, our communities, built for the most part around the automobile, will be much more difficult to adapt.
In the social history of the bicycle, the velo is credited with reducing the number of village idiots by expanding the gene pool. Interesting theory! But I would have to say that the automobile and alien abduction theories combined to give us Rob Ford. p.s Rocincante and I are off to Cuba in Feb. 3wks to conduct Santeria ceremonies for auto reduction and to improve my cadence. Excellent article.
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