Salespeople

At my local shopping centre the area near the escalator is currently staked out by a gang of salespeople from a credit card company - which is offering discounted petrol to new credit card customers.

Just as i thought i had sidestepped the sellers, a fleet-footed (and well trained) woman approaches me with "Do you use unleaded or diesel for your car?" - a question which is surely intended to be a simple lead-in to her sales pitch ... but i said "No".

"Oh" she said (slightly stunned). I explained the concept of being car-free. Combined with my avoidance of credit, it really left her without an angle. We wished each other well, and i went on my way.

In short, yet another benefit of being car-free.

Cool Bike

Believe it or not this bike is owned by a guy who (by my guess) is around 70. I was walking to the shops when he sped past me!!

The bit i like is the simplicity of the design which means there's only one real bar in the structure. I imagine this would also make it quite light (although i didn't test this out incase someone thought i was trying to nick it).

Faster Than a Car

Today i had some stuff to do in the city, so i decided to test out this theory that cycling is faster than car travel (at least at 8.30am). Sure it makes sense - but i'm not a super-cyclist and my bike is not too flash.

So i set off near my house, and identified a "marker car" to measure my progress. I chose a Red Barina. In short, i immediately left it for dead, on my 1980s Repco Traveller.

Despite dismounting to cross at the lights i was never caught by the Red Barina - although a number of other cyclists passed me by.

Catching the Train

I read today that in NSW, the number of people catching the train to work has increased by 120,000.

The survey found that more people are choosing public transport to be more enviromentally friendly. The transport minister observed that switching to public transport vastly reduces emissions, and acknowledged that more needs to be done to enable more people to join this trend.

Evil Insurance Companies

So today I recieved mail from my insurance company. After all, it's been two and a half weeks since my policy expired.

The letter wasn't even a letter. Just a mass-produced form. Telling me i was late, and showing the amount of money i "owe" them (as if it's their birthright to receive money from me each year) it basically had the tone of a headmaster telling off a student for doing something terribly wrong.

And here was i thinking it was a free world, and that i could _choose_ whether or not to do business with a company.

Since receiving this, I am even more happy to be car-free. I'd much prefer my transport budget to go towards funding public transport than to one of these insurance companies.

The Joy of Traffic

The distance from my house to the local shops is a little bit over 1km. Today, for most of this distance, traffic was virtually stationary. Every now and then each of the cars would shuffle forward maybe 10 metres. It wasn't even peak hour - but there was road work.

Anyway, as i walked along the footpath (at a greater speed than the traffic) i felt a little sorry for the people, spending their lunch hour trapped in their vehicle, watching their petrol gauges get closer to empty. If only they knew there was an alternative :)

Phone Calls

This morning, i was called by a telemarketing person. They tried to lure me into whatever it was (i really do just zone them out) with the possibility of going into the draw for a car.

Immediately i launched into my story about going car free - utilising public transport, walking and cycling, reducing carbon emissions, global warming etc. (apart from spreading the word about more enviro-friendly transport, it really takes the wind out of their sails)

He thanked me for my time, and ended the discussion. While he didn't say much, I think i might have opened his eyes to a possibility he had never considered before. It certainly seemed that telemarketer training doesn't include the possibility that someone might be held captive by the possibility of a car.

Day One

The insurance on my car expired last night - and i didn't renew it. So this is day one of being car free. Doesn't feel too much different. Except for the fact that i have several hundred dollars still sitting in my bank account (money that would normally have been donated to the people at the insurance company).

Starting Out

Ok, i've become motivated to become car-free. It should be relatively easy, and hopefully lead to a better lifestyle. I'll see how it goes. So can you, if you want to follow my journey.