Here’s a financial look at something that is tied up in any housing decision — transportation. And the alternatives that are becoming more available, depending on the location that you choose.
It’s great to have choices.
John Heinzl writes an Investor Clinic in the Globe and Mail on the dollars and sense of the various transportation choices that are proliferating.
How to save thousands – and live longer, too
Before you can invest, you need to save. With that in mind, today I’m going to discuss a simple strategy that will help you save thousands of dollars a year.
Not only that, but it will also do the planet a favour and it might even help you live longer.
What is this miracle money-saving strategy? Getting rid of your car.
I say congratulations to any and all cities that are making safe and effective transportation choices available to their citizens.
Owning a car is such a yoke. We still have one, but it was paid for 23 years ago. Since it has a garage and is only used for 1,000K/yr., the total expenditure is on par or less than any other form of transport except bicycles, which we use often. The big waste of cash for it is insurance. Ridiculous.
My young son is car-obsessed, like so many boys. Look at Jay Leno. He has hundreds of vehicles and, really, no need to rush anywhere. My daughter sees cars as a waste of money. Odds are she’ll never be saddled with one. Smart.
We could get by with 10% of the vehicles that are currently registered using services like Uber. Our streets and parking lots could be emptied. We could end the bully culture of motordom – all those solo drivers wasting their lives to pay for vehicles to drive to work – the Commuter Animals. It’s absurd. Their eyes are slits as they jockey for position. Stop and smell the roses? No.
Remember how the car companies bought up streetcars and destroyed them in order to sell more cars. It will take radical action to diminish the dominance of the automobile plague. Education. Legislation. Mindset.
True in cities. Not true once you leave Vancouver.
Where is Uber ? Even in allegedly green Vancouver is has been sacrificed to the gods of unions, election donations, license plate revenue and regulations. This is democracy ?
As long as public transit in MetroVan remains centered around the mighty diesel bus, cars are a necessity unfortunately as slow wobbly buses are not enough of an incentive to lure people from their cars even if gas is $3/liter ! It has to be more rapid than a car to compensate for other inconveniences such as waiting in the rain, sharing space with ( sometimes smelly ) strangers in frequently crowded conditions !
Diesel buses: that is green ?
No Uber: that is green ?
Free residential parking: that is green ?
No road or bridge tolls: that is green ?
We have a long way to go in Vancouver.
why is it so difficult to park my car near the skytrain station then? Might as well just drive all the way downtown then