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July 24, 2005
My Commute: Steve Gutmann
From: Close-in SE Portland
To: Downtown
Bad weather: #14 Hawthorne bus
Good weather: Bicycle (Breezer 7-speed, with wide tires, upright posture and shock absorber seat; designed for the over 50 set...)
Daytime in-town appointments: Walk
Daytime out of town appointments: Flexcar (business account)
Daytime out of town personal errands: Flexcar (personal account)
Monthly cost: negligible. My employer provides me with a TriMet pass and a Flexcar account (for work-related daytime travel). I don't do many personal errands during the day, so I typically don't have much of a Flexcar tab.
The bike has internal gearing, so it requires little maintenance. Here's a summary of my monthly transportation expenses (after buying the bike):
Parking: $0
Gas: $0 (included w/Flexcar's hourly rate)
Car insurance: $0 (included w/Flexcar's hourly rate)
Car payment: none
Maintenance: none
Bus pass: $0 (employee benefit)
I lived this way (a bike & a bus pass; no personal car) from when I was 16, until three months ago, when my second daughter was born, and Amanda and I bought our first car. We're looking forward to selling it once both our girls no longer need car seats.
Posted by Steve Gutmann at 9:06 AM
