It has been almost a year since we decided to forgo being a 2-car family. Some of the benefits we’ve realized have been pretty significant and they are not all financial.

First the obvious. Having one car payment versus two has saved us a significant amount over the year. But it has taken some change and some sacrifice. We have to coordinate our schedule a little differently and we use the public transit a lot more.

So if I have to take a trip to someone’s office or to a meeting location that is outside of our normal daily route, I might keep the car and my husband would use public transit or vice versa. It all depends on how far the destination is from public transit.

This is a why I get a little frustrated with the delays and endless regional discussions about how and whether there will be more integrated transit systems in our region. If there is clean, safe, reliable transit in suburban and urban areas people will use it. Period. I know debates like this are happening across the country.  I just can’t figure why it takes so long in some communities to become a reality.

I absolutely hate sitting in traffic. I don’t know anyone that does. Give us the option of taking environmentally friendly and reliable public transit and stop quibbling.

The other “sacrifice” associated with us becoming a one car family is that we have to be a little more structured in our schedules – especially in the morning. We all leave together in the morning at the same time so that we can drop the kids off at their high schools. There are exceptions where I or my husband have to be somewhere earlier or later and in those instances we just take the transit.

But I’d say the sacrifice part is felt by the teens a little more acutley as they don’t have the luxury of sleeping in some mornings. By sleeping in I mean sleeping past 6 a.m. They call it cruel and unusual punishment. I tell them it builds character. I use that answer for a lot of things. I’m not claiming it works, but I like saying it.

That leads me to one of the key benefits of having one car. It has forced us to travel together in the morning with our teens and we have found that hour or so of getting ready and driving off to our series of destinations has been a great time for family discussion and general catch-up on each others’ lives.

I know many people find dinner allows them to have good conversation with family. That is true for us only on the weekends.  Given that our kids are involved in sports and music lessons in the evening, when we do eat dinner together during the week it is often late and our conversation is rarely that energetic. We’re usually so tired it’s just a chance for light talk and then off to do homework.

Our most energetic chit chat takes place in the kitchen as we eat breakfast and then in the van as we drive to the kids’ schools.

As for coming home…we use a combination of transit, our vehicle and grandparents who are only too happy to take in a game of Rugby or whatever sports team my son is on as they wait to carry him home.

We feel really good not just about the few extra hundred dollars that we have in our savings account each month as a result of not having a 2nd car, but we also feel good about not adding to the vehicular pollution in the environment.

We are not located in the urban core which has all kinds of transit options – we’re in a smaller urban community. Our transit system enables us to make greener life choices.

It enables my 15 year old son to get to his part time job. It gives my daughter the option of taking the transit to and from her piano lessons. Walking is also an option, but depending on the time of day and weather conditions transit is often a convenient choice that is far less expensive then revving up the van.

What’s the public transit service like in your community? If it is insufficient, unreliable, or unsafe speak up about it to your political representatives. Make it an issue that is important to your community. Entrepreneurs, young professionals, retired people and so many others can benefit from the existence of reliable, clean transit that can keep us connected and cut our heavy consumption and reliance on fuel.