After TransLink shared a post about a car-free family saving thousands of dollars a year, people in Metro Vancouver have taken to Reddit to criticize the messaging.
“Vancouver has a long way to go,” one person commented after a TransLink blog post was shared online.
In the article, TransLink spoke to a woman living in downtown Vancouver with her family, which includes her husband and two children, aged three and five. According to TransLink, Wiebke Bohm said her family does not own a car and instead takes transit, bikes, or uses carshares “to keep their carbon footprint minimal.”
Apart from being the conscious choice, not owning a car saves the family around $8,000, Bohm told TransLink. She added that she spends about $819 on transit for her family of four a year.
TransLink
“Our motivation is not financially driven as we could afford a car,” she said. “We simply choose not to — because it fits our lifestyle, and we are convinced that we have less of an environmental impact if we don’t.”
In response, some Redditors described the blog post as “distasteful,” as some locals cannot afford a vehicle and are left with no choice but to depend on transit services.
“Acting like this is so monumental when poor people do it all the time because they have to lol,“ one person wrote.
“Heck, paying for transit can be a struggle sometimes, too,“ another person wrote. “A lot of us have no choice but to either find whatever job we can nearby, or take really long transit because we literally can’t afford a car.”
2 kids, no car: Family SAVES $8,000 annually by going car free!
byu/Superchecker invancouver
Others added that the luxury of being able to depend on transit also depends on the city people live in in some areas.
“Anyone who works in Vancouver but lives in Langley or further east, usually can commute by public transit or bike, if they don’t mind 2x or 3x the time. Metro Vancouver is hobbled by insufficient dedicated transit options,“ a Reddit user said.
“Unless you’re rich enough to buy, there is nowhere you can rent where you will save more than ditching the car,“ another person added. “Not to mention that lots of couples need additional cars if they live far, which is even more $$$.”
“Depends where you live, but in the city you really don’t have to travel far for activities, and for team sports you can carpool,“ a Redditor wrote.
A common discussion in the Reddit thread was that improvements are necessary for all residents in the Metro Vancouver region to benefit from a more affordable transportation option if there is a diverse train network outside of Vancouver’s downtown core.
“I lived in a mega city in Asia working, and not having a car was fantastic, esp. when there are trains and subways everywhere,“ a person commented. “But with every new skytrain station and line it gets just a bit easier to either go car free or less car.“
While there was a lot of criticism and debate in response to the TransLink blog posts, there were people who said, “I wouldn’t mind going car-free.
“Same situation here. 2 kids aged 4 and 2. Don’t own a car. Walk, bike, transit, car share are how we get around. Not only money saving but way more time saved as well. Conscious decision to be car free. It’s a better way to live [in my opinion],“ one person said.
“Agreed, got rid of my car and bought an e-bike, best decision I made,“ another person responded.
However, a common barrier was that their commute would take longer without a vehicle.
According to the TransLink blog post, the transit authority admitted there are challenges living car-free in a “world designed for automobiles.“ However, the family who shared why they chose to live without a vehicle were applauded for their “perseverance and dedication to their sustainability values.“
By choosing transit over driving a gasoline-powered vehicle, TransLink reports people could reduce transportation carbon emissions by up to 80%.
Additionally, “On an annual basis, a typical new vehicle can cost about $10,000 to own and operate. Contrasted with the $2,273 annual cost of a 3-Zone Adult Compass, residents could save up to $8,000 per year by opting out of car ownership and choosing transit instead,” TransLink’s site reads.