Driving Decisions

C has a job that is pretty far away (maybe 12 miles?). He really hates to drive (especially since last month, when he "divorced" the car, but sometimes they have to get together again). It's hard to bike/bus sometimes because, depending on the shift that he works, he gets out very late.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I can't take the bus or bike to work because I wouldn't make it home in time to meet the kids.

So.... what do we do? A couple of years ago, we sold our second car and bought a scooter. When we both need to "motor" somewhere, the person who needs to go farther takes the scooter so that we can save gas. Of course, this does not ALWAYS work because the scooter can't go over 35, so we have to be able to take slower roads, but in the case of us both going to work on a Tuesday, it works out fine. I drive about 8 miles in the car roundtrip, versus about 24 for C. It also saves money. The gas prices are killing me -- it actually cost over $4.00 to fill up my scooter -- that's insane! (Don't you love that I can complain about a $4.00 fill-up?) But I'm being serious. Filling up the car costs a bundle, so we're really trying not to drive.

How much do you think gas will need to cost for people to cut down on driving? Is the price making you reduce your driving? Do you ever think about how much a trip will cost?

It's an important calculation to make. For example, the other day I needed parmesan cheese (okay... maybe not a total necessity, but spaghetti is just not the same without it.) I can get it at ExpensiveMart for about .60 more than at the regular grocery story. But the grocery store is at least 10 miles round trip. I can walk to ExpensiveMart. Hmmmmm....