March 16, 2006

Bus Chick, Tranist Authority
Local Trend Letters

By Carla Saulter

In the increasingly popular, newsweekly style of journalism, the coincidence of two or more people engaging in the same behavior within a six-month time span constitutes a “trend.” Using that standard, I am happy to report that Seattle is experiencing a bona fide car-free movement. Here’s some of my recent reader mail.

From Zanda in West Seattle:

“ Glad to hear someone else enjoys Metro the way I do.  I came to Seattle with the idea of living without a car, but I never imagined how my life would end up revolving around buses. I agree that this way of life also enforces exercise. I live in a part of West Seattle where service is infrequent—and non-existent on weekends and holidays — so I do a lot of walking and am used to carrying heavy loads of groceries a distance. My philosophy with regard to shopping is (a) if I can’t buy it in West Seattle, I don’t need it, and (b) if I can’t get it home on the bus, I have to do without it.”

From Stephanie in Bellevue:

“ We had originally planned to buy a beat-up car for cheap, but then realized that it would be difficult to aggressively save money if we had to pay for gas, insurance, and repairs. So we decided to try being car-less for one month. Four months later, with our savings account growing at a rate we really like, we are so happy we decided to depend on public transportation.”

From Paul in Eastlake (not a full-fledged member of the movement, but well on his way):

“ I’ve made sort of a compromise. I sold my car several years ago, and I ride the bus to Microsoft from Eastlake on rainy or very cold days, but otherwise I ride my motorcycle for trips to the mall, grocery, and so forth. Motorcycles get to use all the HOV lanes, making a commute across 520 bearable. I realize a motorcycle is not for everyone, and I still take the bus to go downtown most times I go there, but for all-around convenience you can’t beat the bike.” 

And my favorite, from John on Capitol Hill:

“ I loved hearing there are others who chose not to use a private automobile. I stopped driving to work in protest to the conversation about invading of Iraq… Soon I needed a new radiator and so just stopped driving altogether. It has now been three years, and I am amazed at the benefits. Certainly there are the financial benefits and the ecological benefits, but I think the change goes deeper in forming my world view. I have become much more connected to myself as part of the community.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. n