The Financial & Environmental Impact of Selling a Vehicle & Using Public Transit
Today is Blog Action Day, and this year’s topic is climate change (a topic that I am very passionate about). I wanted to touch on an action I took last year that had an awesome impact on my personal finances while reducing my environmental impact at the same time. It’s an action that I hope you will consider, should your circumstances permit it.
It’s been a little over a year since I sold my car in favor of public transportation, and I haven’t highlighted the experience yet. But before I do, I have some tasty MicroFrugal savings numbers AND climate savings numbers to share with you.
Money Savings from Selling my Car & Using Public Transit
Just to recap, I sold a 2003 Pontiac Vibe that I had purchased used 2 years earlier for about $10K. I was making loan payments for the vehicle. My expenses (had I kept the car) could be broken down into:
- Fuel cost on estimated 3,000 miles driven/year: annually – $439, monthly – $37
- Loan payments: $216/month
- Insurance costs: annually – $426, monthly – $35
This means that my total estimated cost of ownership (excluding maintenance) annually was $3,456. Monthly it was $288.
Financially, it’s a great move obviously. My bus pass was free via my employer, so I ended up saving at least $3,456 annually. In hindsight, it was brilliant when considering that my wife lost her job in early January and was jobless for three months. Never under-estimate the importance of living below your means and foregoing life’s luxuries!
Climate Impact of Selling my Car
At the same time, I greatly reduced my carbon footprint. According to the EPA Fuel Economy site, I was able to reduce my carbon footprint – based on an estimated 3,000 miles driven per year – by 1.3 tons of CO2. Not bad! Taking it a step further, I had previously created a profile at wattzon.com, and calculated my total annual energy usage. Making the changed dropped my total usage by over 10%.
Had I driven the typical 12,000 miles a year, I would have reduced my total energy usage by about 40% and CO2 impact by 5.2 tons! Also, it’s worth noting that this vehicle achieved 27 mpg on average easily.
The Downside of Not Having a Vehicle
Not having a vehicle does not come without it’s drawbacks. I had to bug friends for rides a few more times than I would have liked, doing any work on our other vehicle prevented logistical issues, and it was hard to get to and from doctors appointments and similar obligations. There’s also some true wackos on the bus, let me tell you.
But those things certainly don’t override the benefits. And you know what? None of us are entitled to have our own vehicles. No regrets.
Frugalhead Discussion:
- Have you gotten rid of a vehicle in favor of public transit?
- Have you moved closer to work to reduce your commute?
- What have you been doing to reduce your carbon footprint?
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Wow – it is our hope to eventually move to a city with really great public transportation. It is over 105 degrees for so many months out of the year here that walking to a bus stop is just not feasible if you want to look at all professional when you get where you’re going.
My boyfriend and I are vegetarian, and since the meat industry contributes WAY more greenhouse gas emissions than cars do, we feel we are doing our part – plus not contributing to the cruelty of that industry.
We are also not having kids, thereby reducing DRASTICALLY the amount of emissions we are responsible for
I don’t think I could give up my vehicle. I don’t drive it much, sure, & I drive my moped to & from university, but giving up my car is just not feasible for myself.
For one, my family all lives too far away. I can’t just “take a bus” to go see them.
For another, I refuse to give up such large chunks of my life for doing something like groceries. I timed it out: Presuming I got the bus stop RIGHT on time to catch it, it would still waste over 40 minutes of my life ONE WAY to get to the grocery store, and then have to get back with those same bags (hoping against hope that the frozens don’t thaw [which is a LOT more dangerous then many will give it credit for], &c), not counting the time I would have to wait for the bus on both ends.
Until public transportation is as quick as it is in places as Europe, until the costs are more highly subsidized, until there is high-speed rail between cities, until the grocery stores are more spread out (again like Europe), I do not foresee myself ever giving up having at least one car with good/great gas mileage ever. Sad, but true.
@ Allen – I give you credit for at least timing it out, that’s a step further than many. Sounds like you’re not sharing a vehicle – this is definitely much easier if you have a shared car with someone.
@ Honey – That’s a good point with the meat industry. Care to share any numbers?
http://www.goveg.com/environment-globalWarming.asp
@G.E. Miller: You’re right, I live alone. I think that after I would get married, we could probably keep it at one car, but who knows?
Also, as a returning student, with times set by other people already (with the classes), each minute I can have to go to the doctors, or the store, &c, are VERY valuable.
If you think not owning a car is completely inpossible, check out this book for tips: How to Live Well Without Owning a Car by Chris Balish. Trick is, I said OWNING. This does not mean you will never need to ride in a car. There are many options for getting to work without owning a car: carpool/vanpool, bus, bicycle, walk, etc. Additionally, you can get many of your personal errands done online (banking, shopping, drug store, even many grocery stores will now deliver). Plus, if you no longer own a car, you will start to notice how many places you can get what you need that are within a few miles of home (definitely biking distance), and you can further reduce your carbon footprint. For other situations (relatives coming to town, hauling large items, etc) you can rent a car for a weekend. Even renting a car once a month can be a considerable cost savings compared with the cost of ownership (insurance, maintenance, car payments/depreciation, gas). Plus you can get a brand new car that exactly fits the purpose (SUV or truck for hauling, hybrid for running lots of errands/stocking up, BMW for visitors).
We don’t have a car because we live in central London where public transport is so good, we simply don’t need one. So we save a lot of money, but the costs and hassle of renting a car everytime you want to go away for the weekend can be a pain. So can grocery shopping!
“We are also not having kids, thereby reducing DRASTICALLY the amount of emissions we are responsible for…”
If anyone seriouly can only see children as nothing more than a ‘carbon footprint’, we have bigger problems than ‘global warming’ to deal with.
@ Live Don’t Legislate – if people don’t acknowledge overpopulation and its attendant environmental effects as a factor in their decisions about whether or not to have children, then we will end up with far, far more people dying horribly (by the hundreds of millions, of famine and pandemic).
And if legislation is what you want to avoid (the government controlling who can have kids and who can’t) then the number of people making these hard choices on their own needs to increase dramatically. I’m a huge proponent of adoption and would totally investigate getting a baby from another country if I ever decided I wanted kids.
@ Honey
I’m sure that you’re sincere in your beliefs of global warming (or is it cooling now?) and overpopulation, however the problem I have is when people can only other humans as a carbon footprint or an ‘attendant environmental effect’. I’m all for population control–why not start at the source? Instead of encouraging Jr. High kids to jump in the sack, why not talk about the attendant moral consequences of irresponsibly creating and subsequently, destroying life. The decision to have children or not to should be one that ANY individual enters into with serious thought and evaluation. For that, I’m glad that you have decided not to have children. And I definitely agree that adoption is an answer to a lot of the world’s problems.
By the way, overpopulation is NOT the main source of pandemic famine. Corrupt governments, lack of education, and plain old fashioned greed are the biggest contributors.
I’m happy to be a steward over this earth, and I would be even happier if we stopped abusing our resources, but if we even begin to think of life as merely a source of emissions, than we’re going down a exceedingly dangerous path.
I am a little confused about the part where I am supposed to have said that children were “only” or “merely” a source of emissions. I am pretty sure I never implied that in the slightest.
The wife and I moved to a city for school. I knew I would be working full-time and going to school part-time and where both locations would be. We chose a location that now allows me to walk to work (about 4-5 block) and then take a train to school (and back home). At the time we moved, we had two car payments, and we were soon able to get rid of one of the cars. Obviously that resulted in a lot of savings (between the payment, insurance, taxes, and gas). We are paying more in rent than other people, but that has been more than paid for by not having the additional car. My wife has gone back to work, so now I truly have to get around as much as possible without a car, and I love it.
Many people overlook actually moving to a location that allows you to drastically shorten or eliminate your commute. I know that many in and around the city I live in feel they “need” to live far away from the city, drive 45+ minutes a day, run errands in their car, etc. This is the biggest paradigm shift for most to make. I was lucky in being able to make that shift by taking a practical look at where I would be living in a new city. Most people just fall into the habits of those around them.
Something that should not be overlooked is how nice a non-driving commute can be. Riding on a bus or train allows you to possibly read, work, or surf the internet. Note that many internet service providers are offering options to allow you to have access anywhere within a city (e.g. Clear has blanketed our city). So instead of sitting in a car getting stressed out for 30, 60, 90 minutes or more (both ways), you can calmly be productive and/or unwind.
I really enjoy walking now too. Hot weather is my only real complaint, as I live in the southern United States. It gets you outside, lets you get some sun (helpful in the winter), and provides more exercise.
As to what to do for a short-term car replacement, check out Zipcar. For a yearly fee ($50 which they often discount to $25), you can rent cars by the hour or by the day. They have locations around most metropolitan areas. There are 2-3 within walking distance from where I live.
It would be nice to avoid the environmental and monetary expenses of the car, but I wouldn’t know where to begin by giving up a car. I’ve never been on a bus or taken any public transportation. Its one of the downsides of being raised in an upper middle class suburb, I suppose.
If I had access to public transportation, I’d say goodbye to the vehicle forever. Cars are a hassle and too expensive, but they’re a necessary evil in many U.S. towns.
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