One Car Family

Since moving to ABQ over 6 years ago, we have survived on only one car. I guess we are the exception in modern suburban America. A few minutes googling "one car family" brings up all sort of website dedicated to making this patently absurd concept a reality. Another sub-genre is on how this is a painful but necessaryeconomic decision. I originally wanted to find some data on what the prevalence is, but the best I could find is that collectively Americans own 2.28 vehicles per household, with 35% of households having 3 or more cars. (From this NYT article which again makes it sound like only having one car is ridiculous idea). We certainly don't fit the stereo type - we have only one car because we only want one.

It was really easy to make work for our first few years, as we both worked less than 6 miles from work, and often times our car would sit neglected in our garage all week only to be driven on weekends. But like life in general, things are getting more complicated as time goes on. Now that Ali is working full time for her rotations since June, it has been pretty tricky to get everyone where they need to go (us to work and the boy to school). We made it work this year as I biked Connor to school the past few months.

I biked over 91% of days into work and racking up over 2000 miles in the process. I got rides on 10 days due to weather (snow, rain, cold, or wind), and another 8 days due to other appointments (fetching people from airport, doctor appointments, etc). This is my best year ever for cycling, mainly because I could cycle to and from rugby practice. (And yes, I know these stats because I am a nerd and keep a spreadsheet.)

But I think our days as a one car family may be coming to an end. Biking Connor to school on a crisp autumn morning is different than taking him to school when the temperature is only 20 degrees out. We are looking into short term leases to get us through the end of Ali's school and boards - sometime in September this year. Who knows what she will do professionally, but we hope to bridge the time with just a temporary solution so that we can reevaluate our needs when we figure out what she will be doing. Regardless, I hope to keep biking to work as long as I can, I always look forward to my daily commute - fresh air, sunshine, and a little exercise.