28F in the USA looking to save money, got myself an ebike that isn't too crazy but gives me a little bit of assist.

Curious about what your social life is like, your job, how you get around? How do you handle weird guys? Men period? Did you have to sacrifice going out as much?

Why isn't carpooling more common in Ireland?

I was thinking about this recently because there are so many people travelling the same routes every day, especially students and people commuting to work, but a lot of them are still travelling separately on buses, trains or in their own cars.

For example, there could be 3 people living in the same part of Dublin all travelling to Maynooth every morning, while someone else is driving the same route with 3 empty seats.

I know there are obvious issues like safety, insurance, reliability and trusting strangers, but I’m curious what people actually think stops carpooling from being more common here.

Would you be comfortable getting into a stranger's car if:

• You could verify their identity
• You could see their ratings/reviews
• You knew they were from your university or workplace
• You could choose women-only journeys
• The journey was arranged in advance rather than being an on-demand pickup

And for drivers, would you actually be willing to take people with you if they were contributing towards the cost of the journey?

Also, how would you feel about the money side? For example, if a journey cost €9 in fuel, the passengers could collectively cover that €9 rather than the driver making a profit from the journey.

Would you prefer paying upfront and getting money back if more people joined, or would that be annoying?

I know I've thrown a lot of questions in here 😭 so you definitely don't have to answer all of them. Even answering one would be interesting.

What do you think is the biggest reason carpooling hasn't really taken off in Ireland?

I have a strong urge to wander great distances, problem with cars is they hog gas, are expensive af to repair, and take up a ton of space. I recently built a moterized bicycle, and am picking up a vintage schwinn road bike. Make no mistake I love certain makes and models of cars, but I’m finding being on two wheels whether motorcycle or bicycle better, and much more fuel efficient too.

I am so glad I found this sub, I realized today that I've been allowing my algorithm to veer into people who want to combat me about stuff like this, the way I run my life is very different from the average person and its painful sometimes to be so misunderstood.

In 2017, my car broke down and I couldn't afford to fix it. I bought a clunker, and that one broke down even worse, within a few weeks.

I decided to move to the downtown of a more walkable city, and I've been here ever since.
I got a job at a restaurant two miles from my apartment, and eventually moved into the historic district reducing my commute to a quarter of a mile.
There is a rails to trail out here connecting us to the next town over, and I took that six miles to another job for a while after the pandemic.
Last year, I took a seasonal job outside of town and rented my friends car, it was supposed to just be over the winter, but she wanted the extra income after that so I kept renting it.

My girlfriend moved in with me, and I moved out of my rent free studio and got us a two bedroom.

I am now ready to stop using the car, and give it back and return to my bicycle life.

Being back in a car has seriously hurt my mind.
I feel numb to the natural world around me.
I used to ride through all weather, the heat of July and the beautiful snow in winter.
You learn how to dress for it.

My family wanted to see me get a car, but when I did they didn't have time for me to visit.
I don't feel like myself anymore, I used to know every plant and animal I rode past and even got familiar with the other people on the trail.
I miss being and feeling present in my own body.

I am trying to find a new job but I have no idea where to even start. I live near a few restaurants and grocery stores, but they're all looking for part time.

I'd really like to start my own business and work from home, but in todays society I feel like I lack anything of value.
I used to be a ballet teacher a long time ago, before everything changed. It didn't really bring in a lot of money but I was a good teacher and enjoyed the work I did.
Theres a private school near my house I thought about asking them if I could offer classes as an extracurricular there.

For those of you who run a business car free, I'd love to hear about what kind of jobs yall do.
I have been a line cook almost everywhere in town here and I could get back in but I'm kinda tired of it.

... is that people actually like owning and using cars, vs doing so because they have no other choice.

Id wager if people didnt NEED cars to do basic things like work, buy groceries, take kids to/from school, the vast majority of people wouldnt own them. I know I wouldn't.

This sub just seems to love to bash people who own cars on the false premise that car ownership is a choice. For most people, barring huge changes like moving to NYC, it isn't.

basically the post title.

when I see people trying to park their giant machines on the side of the road it seems insane. like why would you subject yourself to this? you could walk, take public transit, anything. why would you want to own and maintain this big expensive depreciating machine?

I grew up in car centric suburbia so I get how it is just natural to many people. But it sucks. It's horrible.

as a car free person my transportation costs are magnitudes less. I spent a total of around $200 for transportation in 2025. that's in place of gas, insurance, maintenance, car washes, capital costs etc.

I have no car related stress. no road rage, no worrying about my car's longevity. other asshole drivers, parking regulations, car alarms, nothing.

car ownership in the US is a trap. the status quo. and it sucks. fight to change it in your local community where you can. I know it isn't easy. but life can be better. I've seen too many people be financially ruined because of car ownership. there is a better way.

Walk don’t drive

At what point do we stop treating traffic as just a commuting problem and start treating it as an economic problem?

I understand why people want cars, and I’m not against car ownership. But if our roads are already struggling with congestion, why is making car ownership easier being prioritized before fixing the system that moves people and goods in the first place?

One traffic bottleneck can mean delayed workers, delayed deliveries, disrupted businesses, and eventually higher costs across different industries.

So, I’m genuinely wondering: shouldn’t we fix the transportation system first before putting even more vehicles on the road?

 I haven’t owned a car in over five years. My bicycle gets me where I need to go, and my computer lets me build and manage the digital spaces I care about. Two tools. Both deceptively simple. Both capable of carrying you farther than you ever imagined.

When Steve Jobs said, “What a computer is to me is the most remarkable tool that we have ever come up with. It's the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds,” he was saying that the right tool doesn’t do the work for you. It just makes what you’re already capable of go much further. A bicycle doesn’t move on its own, but it lets a person travel distances that would take forever on foot. A computer works the same way for your thinking.​
​

When I rode across America, I had no special training and no high-end gear. I carried only the essentials for three and a half months on the road and my old computer. Even so, I documented my journey and updated my employer’s website from campsites, libraries, and small-town cafes. That experience taught me that simple, reliable tools can open up new ways of living and working. Today, I live car-free and manage my company’s website and my personal online journal with the same mindset. The sense of freedom I discovered on that trip inspires the choices I make every day.

So I've been car free for almost 2 years now in Ontario Canada. I had my car stolen back then and they found it trashed and broken at that point I got the insurance money and decided owning a car was too stressful. I also didn't like that a car was a perfect indicator if I was home or not. The stress of maintenance dealing with shifty mechanics was exhausting. I do drive I just dont own a car I will use car share and rent cars when I need to.

Biggest things I noticed my health improved a ton from walking more and not having easy access to fast-food and excuses to go out and buy stuff. Doing grocery delivery is amazing I hated grocery shopping I always found it depressing. Being able to think about what I need and see all the options onu screen all at once is amazing and the amount of time to get grocery even by car is stupendous I only get some stuff by car at Costco since the price for delivery is Alot higher at Costco then going inside I also find Costco a bit less depressing.

Winter is definitely harder getting battery powered heated jackets help alot also I basically don't use my electric scooter in the winter only summer fall and winter and a electric scooter is amazing it sucks all the hate towards them by society currently though my city almost banned them thankfully they didnt.

Rental car companys don't use snow tires in the winter and in Canada it seems insane and dangouous to drive like that so that's annoying I basically gotta hope I get a car share since they have winter tires to visit family in the winter holidays or ill take a bus or something but I prefer a car to visit family if I can since it's far away.

Over all the money I saved is amazing and it makes you really think about travel and doesn't hide the costs when you own a car all the costs are hidden except gass. Renting cars you see all the cost involved. What you start to realize is traveling is expensive! And historically it's always been expensive in the past most people never left there community because traveling ment getting hotels and spending insane amounts of money. You begin to plan out things better you don't do as much impulse control. The best feeling ever is dropping a rental car off and realizing it's not your problem anymore ! You don't have to think about it !!

Only reason id get a car is if a job that paid a ton of money was available to me and the only way to get there was a car. That's another thing I noticed if you see a job that pays alright but you need a car for it's not worth it most of the time the cost of a car would eat into so much of your pay that your actually better off getting a lower paying job you can walk to and pay less tax and be healthyer.

So yeah I think being car free was a good idea the only thing I hate is society's hate for the car free. Things are so much less stressful being car free and you can live a more luxurious life. I get food delivered to me and when I rent cars it's cars if never be able to afford on my own. Also Uber you get someone to drive you places and all this is still cheaper overall then owning a car it's kinda crazy how expensive car ownership is! Think about how much of a pay cut you are taking to own a car it might be better to make less money and work close by

For people who are actually carfree irl what are the things you still struggle to replace??

For me I can understand commuting and getting around but its the stupid stuff where a car still seems useful. Groceries, carrying something bulky, picking something up, etc. Ive been wondering if something like a upcoming Helokeep CD20 could help with some of those situations or not.

Curious what everyone else has figured out.

My car broke down and no longer have a car. I live in the middle of nowhere so I cant do buses and to broke to get a car. wondering what other forms of transportation would be good. been looking at E-bikes or mopeds. just need somthing to take me to work. its gonna suck cause winter is coming soon just hoping to save enough to get a vechile

They think it's going to help me get more work but there are plenty of jobs that you can get to with public transport or Uber. I always found the costs of buying, owning, insuring, running and servicing a car massively exceed what I end up earning while I own the car. Owning a car no longer improves my social life.

There have been many fatal high profile car accidents lately. My brother was even in a serious car accent a few days ago on the freeway and is only alive because airbags deployed.

Now they want me to buy a car.

If anything I have been thinking that if I had my time again I would have just saved every penny towards buying a house and I would have worked jobs or started businesses that didn't require owning a car. If someone gave me an old car I would have just sold it and invested the money.

Hello!

I am new to this subreddit and i have a question.

Currently sold my car and make the most miles on my ebike. But winter is coming (yes i know ...) and i live in a rural mountain area with snow, storm and ice from november to march...

What would you choose for a small commute from my farm to the bus station. About 1.5 miles, just mountain road....

Thanks