‘Leave Your Car at Home’ – Final Thoughts

‘Leave Your Car at Home’
Dispatch #6

Okay, I did it! I went one month without owning a car! It might not seem like that big of a feat, but this is coming from somebody that has been heavily reliant on a car in the past and has a busy schedule. Frankly, it initially terrified me to be without a car for so long.

My goal during this campaign was to see how easy it would be to manage without a car in Downtown Bellevue and to also uncover transportation resources. Over the last 4 weeks, I have immersed myself in walking, riding Metro, flagging taxis, using Zipcar services, and counting on friends for rides. I was gutted to lose my old car, but the trusted car service professionals did everything they could to save it. In all truth, the car had been on borrowed time for a few years.

What Went Well

• I saved a ton of money! For the month, I saved $715 by not owning a car. I used some of that money towards utilizing other modes of transportation, but didn’t spend more than $150, still leaving a boatload to my discretion.
• Zipcar – I don’t think I would’ve been able to completely go without a car if the Zipcar service didn’t exist. The service almost gave me ultimate freedom. It allowed me the peace of mind that whatever bind I got in (even though it might cost), I would have a backup option to access a car.
• Access to Information – The best resource for everything in Downtown Bellevue, related to transportation, is Choose Your Way Bellevue. Their site is full of great transportation information, including bus schedules, Zipcar locations, vanpool information, bike paths, and much more. You name it, and Choose your Way Bellevue has it!
• Urban Lifestyle – Downtown Bellevue has everything you need…there isn’t much reason to leave. More restaurants than anyone could ever want, shopping galore, accessible grocery stores, and what is becoming more and more prevalent every week – Downtown Bellevue’s nightlife scene! I did travel to Seattle a handful of times to meet friends and for a couple of events, but found that it ended up being a hassle to cross the bridge and fight the traffic (on the bus or via Zipcar) when I did.
• Discovery – I stopped by events that I otherwise wouldn’t have, picked up groceries more often, and visited stores along my walks that I wouldn’t normally take the time to visit if I were driving. I was much more spontaneous.

Opportunities for Improvement

• Blocks are too Big – I jay-walked more in the last 4 weeks than I have in my lifetime. The blocks are so big that I found myself wanting to cross the street sooner than I was allowedto. The City of Bellevue needs to create a handful of crosswalks to break up a few blocks in a few choice locations.
• More Zipcar Locations – Zipcar is great, but it could be even better if there were more pick-up locations in Downtown Bellevue. Also, one way to create more demand for the service (and take away a barrier to entry) would be to remove or lower the cost of the initial sign-up fee.
• Create a Barrier Between Sidewalks and Streets– Right now, unless you are walking outside Bellevue Square or Lincoln Square, the majority of the areas in the downtown core don’t feel very intimate or comfortable to walk through. The cars, buses, and trucks are loud and not very pleasant. Sometimes it became so loud that I wasn’t able to hold a conversation on my cell phone. Barriers need to be planted between the sidewalk and streets to encourage the community to walk more often and to create a more enjoyable experience.
• More Express Buses – The Metro and Sound Transit bus transportation systems in the area are great…until you have to transfer buses or the route you chose isn’t a direct route, and you stop every 5 minutes. It would be great to see more express routes.

Thanks to Our Sponsors
Thank you to both Zipcar and Choose Your Way Bellevue. We wanted both organizations to sponsor ‘Leave Your Car at Home’ because of how appropriately both services complimented what the mission was hoping to accomplish.

If you’re not planning to ditch your car anytime soon, at the very least I hope that through my discovery process I was able to point you in the right direction to find the resources, which will allow you to use alternate modes of transportation.

So the question everybody has been asking me: Will you continue to go car-less once this is over? I thought I’d be dying to buy a car the day this was over and instead, while the weather is still nice, I am going to continue to go without a car. In a couple of months I will likely be a car owner again – but a more thoughtful, educated one!