Folks without cars, how do you do it?

Here as well Public transport is expensive..taxi's , trains, and busses because our fuel is expensive.. currently between £1.19 and £1.35 per gallon depending whether it's unleaded or leaded ( and that's just this week next week it could be raised by 3 or 4 p per litre)... .... around 4 litres is an American gallon... but it take 5 litres to make a British Gallon...
 
It's not just the convenience I miss. I loved driving, loved to go on trips with my own itinerary, loved to get away and feel the freedom of taking myself where I felt like going and when. But mostly the shopping! That is one reason why I'm sour on the stores not being able to give out bags. As a walker, it's harder for me to go everywhere so prepared. It will be a hassle schlepping bags around all the time. Sorry to change the subject, but the two mix in my mind and the two equals Convenience. As I get older, sicker, tireder, why is it being taken from me Now? That's a rhetorical question.
 
Here, it would be extremely difficult to live without a car. Our bus system is completely useless because the routes are outdated which makes it extremely complicated to get where you need to go. I'm not talking about getting to out-of-the-way places, but to things like medical areas, shopping centers, etc. You would end up having to transfer multiple times and having long waits between buses and then many times quite a walk to boot. It just isn't practical at all.

When my last car died a couple years ago, I researched to see if I could take a bus to places to shop for a new car. I found that, in many cases, you couldn't get there from here. Luckily, a kind neighbor helped me out and gave me rides to places I needed to go. Also luckily, here you can shop around dealerships and used car dealers to see what they have on their lots so you don't waste a lot of time and energy going to places where they have nothing that meets your criteria.
 
I had quite an experience yesterday. I met an old buddy from work for lunch and a chat. It's about 16 miles from my home. After lunch i started for home over some back roads and hadn't gone more than 3 or 4 miles when the rt. front ball joint let go while I was doing about 40 mph. Lost the steering and skidding along with that rt front throwing up sparks.

Car came to rest on the pavement but out in the middle of nowhere. There were some scattered houses along the road and a couple of guys came out to see what had happened. One went back and brought out some orange cones to lead cars around mine and they waited around with me 'til the wrecker I'd called showed up. Took him about half an hour to get to me. He had quite a job getting the car up on the wrecker with only 3 wheels and he used a wooden skid to hold up the 4th corner.

Brought the car back to my local repair shop and they're putting it back together today. Quite a thrill but one I hope not to repeat. To make maters worse, I only had a light sweater on and it was a chilly , windy day while I stood there waiting. Glad it didn't happen on a busy heavily traveled road.

At 86 I could do without these kinds of problems.
 
DaveA said:
I had quite an experience yesterday. I met an old buddy from work for lunch and a chat. It's about 16 miles from my home. After lunch i started for home over some back roads and hadn't gone more than 3 or 4 miles when the rt. front ball joint let go while I was doing about 40 mph. Lost the steering and skidding along with that rt front throwing up sparks.

Car came to rest on the pavement but out in the middle of nowhere. There were some scattered houses along the road and a couple of guys came out to see what had happened. One went back and brought out some orange cones to lead cars around mine and they waited around with me 'til the wrecker I'd called showed up. Took him about half an hour to get to me. He had quite a job getting the car up on the wrecker with only 3 wheels and he used a wooden skid to hold up the 4th corner.

Brought the car back to my local repair shop and they're putting it back together today. Quite a thrill but one I hope not to repeat. To make maters worse, I only had a light sweater on and it was a chilly , windy day while I stood there waiting. Glad it didn't happen on a busy heavily traveled road.

At 86 I could do without these kinds of problems.
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Good thing you weren't on a highway or in heavy traffic. Good to know you weren't hurt!
 
If i didnt have to drive......i would give up tomorrow.....theres nothing more stressful , too many careless ,old and young drivers on the road.....they dont realise, the car is like a weapon.....it can kill or maim ,
i would jump on buses, and if i had heavy shopping, i would jump in a taxi.....and this would save lots of money also........i cant wait .......👍😊😉
 
Pepper said:
It's hard, it's very hard. My son buys the heavy, bulky stuff about twice a month. I can do about nine full bags of stuff, which in reality isn't everything I need. Can't buy all the variety of foods I would like, it would take too many days to do that, so I stick with the must-haves and boring staples.
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Same here my son and dil do most shopping from a list I make. But I do go with them sometimes. DIL takes me to Dr appointments.
 
Camper6 said:
Have any of you ever considered renting a vehicle for the day you need to go shopping or running around doing stuff you have to do?

I'm lucky. Transportation is right outside the door via bus and shopping is withing walking distance. It's tough in winter.

I do have a car but it's in need of repairs so I only use it occasionally.
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Both my husband and I drive. My car is a two door and it is difficult getting in and out of the back seat. His car is a two seater. When my mother needed surgery in a distant city, we rented a sedan so that my father could go, too. It worked out well and solved the problem of transporting more people. The cost was around $60. for the day.
 
The public bus system here comes right to the door of my building. If you have a Medicare card, the cost is fifty cents. The cabs (we have two here) are $5.00 one way within our local area. One of the men in my building takes the bus to Walmart (about 3 miles away) and then calls the cab to come get him so he can carry his bags of groceries home. I have not done this yet, but my bf has promised to go with me on the bus to show me how to manage it myself. He used to drive the buses here and knows the system.

For medical appointments there are a variety of options in my county. The office for the aging has been a big help to me for many different things. They will assist us here to remain as independent as possible. The lady across the hall from me is 94 and she is up and out every morning very early. She uses a mobility chair for transportation also but normally uses the rolling walker to get around. A happy lady but has been through a lot.
 
hollydolly said:
I don't know about over there, but to hire a car for the day here isn't just the price of the rental, you have to be able to provide a Credit card with a minimum of £500 deposit available on it...then pay for the rental which is about 1/5 th of that price again... so that would be difficult for many people ..
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I can pick up a rental car at the airport on weekends on Saturday and return it on monday morning for $56.
old medic said:
Here you would be screwed... Theres no Taxi, Uber Lyft or public transpertation. but only a 5 mile walk to the store....
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Bicycle? Tricycle style if you can't ride a two wheeler? There's some nice ones out there complete with big carriers for shopping.
 
Six months ago I was driving so it's been an adjustment to be on foot again.

I use delivery services and cabs and luckily my city has a good cab system service that is very affordable. I also walk to the drugstore.
 
old medic said:
I wouldnt around here... Narrow country roads, no shoulder, no speed zones or bike paths.... but folks do
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Here we have bicycle paths and fortunately for me there is a hardly used road that leads right to the grocery store.

In the summer I ride my bike every day.

That's if I can find it in the morning. Bike theft is an epidemic in my city.
 
Aunt Bea said:
This is a great thread!

I wonder about how I will manage when it's time to hang up my keys and am no longer able to drive or walk to the shops.

I will miss being able to go to a variety of stores and most likely settle for home delivery from one of the major chain stores in town using Instacart.

The local RiteAid pharmacy will deliver a prescription and any other items included with that prescription for free or nonprescription items only for a small fee.

I live in an area where it is fairly easy to get a cab or car service and even though that is expensive it is still much much cheaper than owning and operating a vehicle.

The biggest adjustment for me will be to deal with what seems like a loss of freedom and independence.

I keep telling myself that it's just a change in how I live that will take some getting used to .

I need to start experimenting with some of these options now while I'm still able to drive so it will be a smoother transition when that day finally arrives.
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Funny you talk about losing the independence, Bea...when my mom became legally blind at age 56 and came to live with us, that was the most devastating thing to her - not to have the freedom to hop in her car and take off. Luckily we build this big joint on the acreage and decided to get her a golf cart as a present one year...boy, it became her most valued possession - that and her talking book machine. I've still got pictures of her driving it all over the property, picking up stuff and hauling gardening equipment with Duke (our German Shorthair Pointer) beside her with the frisbee in his mouth. It made all the difference in the world to her.

When she died, I couldn't take going in the garage and seeing the golf cart there so I gave it to our neighbor (who was a very good friend to my mom). For those of us that grew up in the "age of cool cars " and love being behind the wheel, its more than "just driving". For those of you that have never driven...well, like mom used to say "you don't miss what you never had", now do you!
 
I expect many of us younger retired folks will live to see vastly improved transportation alternatives, even in rural areas. Delivery services (drones even), self driving cars, special shopping bus routes, etc. Where there’s money to be made, services will happen.
 
During the last 14 years of my career about 50% of my time was spent driving...as I was on solo assignment in the field. I loved the freedom and independence of having a car and never thought I'd be satisfied without one. Eye surgeries that coincided with my car being totaled while parked were the catalysts for me to stop driving. Until about 16 months ago, my husband and I did our errands together. Now he's gone.

My son picks up groceries from Costco and sometimes Walmart. I belong to a senior center that provides door to door service, not only to the center but once a month to one of the nearby Walmarts. I'll be going with them next week. I recently found out that the senior transport service will also take me to doctors appointments and leaves from senior buildings, one of which I live very close to, to go to Shoprite once a week. Another, smaller supermarket is within easy walking distance. I usually go once a week to pick up sale items so there's not much to carry.

I also live in a transportation hub. Within easy walking distance are buses to most of my doctors, a Walmart superstore that's right next to a Costco, Port Authority in New York City and even to Atlantic City, where my timeshare is located. There's a train nearby that goes to my favorite waterfront park, another hub for all kinds of connections and to the airport. I'm within walking distance of retail stores, restaurants, entertainment, and banks. If absolutely necessary, I'll take Uber or Lyft.
 
We have CityGo bus service plus we have OCCK which is another transportation service here. The OCCK is free but, you have to sign up and fill out a form so they know what your needs are and then you call ahead to make an appt for your ride. We also taxi service. I think we have Uber but, I'm a little concerned about using that service. Where I live the crime rate is high enough that I'm not sure I'd be comfortable just letting anyone pick me up and not knowing you know? I thought about moving back home but there's no transportation or decent shopping there.
 
MarciKS said:
I think we have Uber but, I'm a little concerned about using that service. Where I live the crime rate is high enough that I'm not sure I'd be comfortable just letting anyone pick me up and not knowing you know? I thought about moving back home but there's no transportation or decent shopping there.
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I feel the same way about rideshares. If possible, I would rather find someone I can trust that can take me places for pay. This way I know the person and he/she is not some stranger every time I need a ride. I drive now, but plan to give up driving when I reach 80 in three years.
 
Catlady said:
I feel the same way about rideshares. If possible, I would rather find someone I can trust that can take me places for pay. This way I know the person and he/she is not some stranger every time I need a ride. I drive now, but plan to give up driving when I reach 80 in three years.
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I have a feeling that my eyes may fail me later on enough to prevent me from driving so I'm trying to plan accordingly.
 
I am in the process of getting an aide to help me with my housecleaning through the office for the aging. Many of the other residents in my apartment building have aides and one of them told me that the aides will shop for you if you cannot get to a store. I won't be doing that, basically I want an aide for the housecleaning help. But it is nice to know that is available too.
 
Yes
JB in SC said:
I expect many of us younger retired folks will live to see vastly improved transportation alternatives, even in rural areas. Delivery services (drones even), self driving cars, special shopping bus routes, etc. Where there’s money to be made, services will happen.
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Like overdue the Jetsons. I saw they have driverless cars already now flying saucers for freedom of traffic to do grocery shopping.
 
I've been thinking about getting one of those electric scooters. But then I think some more and talk myself out of it. I can just see the news story: aging man wrecks his scooter and is badly injured. I'm sehr alt, by my chosen screen name and because it's also true !
 
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