Is it possible to exist without owning a car? This is the question we asked ourselves after arriving in Berkeley. Living close to the University and the boys' middle school means that daily commuting is not a problem on foot. We also live about 2 minutes walk to a bus-stop with frequent buses to 'down-town'. But what about shopping, going out at night and sight-seeing trips? What has made our car-less state possible is a car-sharing organisation called zipcar. Now if we need a car, we book one on line. The cost per hour is reasonable and includes petrol ('gas') and insurance. There are 3 zipcar locations within 10 minutes walk of our home.
Now when planning to go somewhere, we have to ask ourselves if we really need a car for this trip. It's amazing how many journeys are actually quite do-able on foot or by public transport, and there is the bonus of not having to find a park (which in Berkeley is often extremely difficult). I have bookmarked the Trip-Planner website for the bus and light rail system (the latter known simply as BART) and have a 'clipper' card which works on both and can be topped up electronically.
It's not all plain sailing - or zipping - using a share car though. There was the time we went shopping and underestimated how long it would take us in the supermarket. Being unable to extend our time because someone else had booked the car, we had to rush back to the zipcar place directly from the shop rather than go home and unload. (Overdue fees start at $50!) Consequently we had a dozen full shopping bags to carry home, which is quite tricky. To make matters worse it started raining. We heroically went about 2 blocks before realising our strategy was ridiculously inadequate, at which point Matthew jogged home, returning with a bicycle, back-packs and a pull-along suitcase (the invention of the wheel was invaluable!) to rescue his slightly damp wife and 10 bags of food.
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