Transportation
Cocktail Tool Kit

Download the Transportation Cocktail Tool Kit [ in French ], a PDF file format (8.7 MB), or use the following links to surf the Tool Kit.

A-The Transportation Cocktail tastes good

1-Costs

• A. Annual budget for two cars in the suburbs
  
• B. Annual budget for a Cocktail car
  
• C. Annual budget for a city Cocktail without a car
  

B-Transportation Cocktail Ingredients

1. Car rentals
2. Car sharing
3. Public transportation and taxis
4. Inter-city transportation
5. Walking, biking, rollerblading
6. Delivery services

C-Cocktail excercises

1. Where do you live?
2. What are your needs?
3. What is your budget?
4. Do you have time to have a car?

A. The Transportation Cocktail tastes good!

The Inter-city citizen

Jean Boutet, Senior Policy Advisor at Environment Canada There are two main advantages to not having a car: exercise and freedom. Without a car we are freed from the constraints of traffic and the constant attention needed when driving, especially downtown where it's not easy to stop just anywhere and you have to keep going around the block!

Often for my work I travel several times a week between Ottawa, Montreal and my home in Quebec City. I live in an immense urban space, with Quebec City to the East and Ottawa to the West. For me, going from one city to the next is like changing neighbourhoods, with Central Station in Montreal as my pivot point. I can get there, change into a suit, stow my bags, go to a meeting and then leave again! With so many inter-city buses leaving at all hours, I have total flexibility. Actually, right now, my travel expenses are paid by my employer, but even before, when I was travelling just as much, I realized that not having a car was really very advantageous. The year that I calculated the costs, my travel didn't even reach $3,000, whereas, according to the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA), having and maintaining a car costs close to $9,000 per year.

Travel time is a privileged moment of relaxation for me. I never get tired of the six hours between Ottawa and Quebec City when I have nothing to do except stare out at the landscape without a care in the world! For local transportation, I always have bus tickets on me for all three cities.

My relationship with public transportation is also linked to my desire to help reduce gases that cause the greenhouse effect. This is one of my values. There are 1001 reasons for using alternative means of transportation. Here are a few.

1. The Cost

According to the CAA, the average Canadian spends $8,525 per year to own a car and drive 18,000 kilometres. Other than food and rent, a car is a family's biggest budgetary expense. This amount, which varies between $6,891 and $11,963 according to the type of car and the province of residence, includes depreciation, interest, maintenance and gas. It does not include parking, parking tickets, snow removal or indirect costs such as time wasted in traffic.

It is possible to be less dependent on a car by mixing different kinds of transportation that cost less but often are just as efficient. This mix is called the Transportation Cocktail.

It really isn't efficient to buy a car and only use it for one or two hours a day. It's better to pay for a car ONLY when you use it. This is the case even if you spend several thousand dollars in car rentals and taxis. In greater Montreal, where 50% of adults don't own a car, the average household spends only $329 per month in travel costs. This is well below the Quebec average.

If you commute to work, your expenses can be reimbursed by your employer, or they can be written off for your taxes, as is the case for people who are self-employed. Obviously, this also applies to all car travel, but because we have to pay it anyway, we don't always think of it.

By way of example, here are three budgets for two-person households with one or two cars or no car at all. According to these budgets and your degree of dependence on a car, the cost of similarly efficient transportation can vary from $400 to $1,400 per month. Obviously, each person or family has particular needs so you have to choose the Transportation Cocktail that best matches your needs and your pocketbook. All that's left to do afterwards is to decide what to do with the money you'll save!

Annual budget for two cars for a household in the suburbs of Montreal made up of two adults who each use their own car.

Notes for chart:
(1)The costs shown of using a car are those calculated by the CAA. The costs of parking, snow removal, etc., are calculated by Michel Labrecque, Cocktail transport (1997). The figures cited for license and registration are the actual costs in greater Montreal.

(2) Depreciation is equal to the car's value at purchase, minus its value at resale, divided by the number of years of use (for example: $20,000 - $5,000 = $15,000 / 5 years = $3,000).

(3) For minimum use of parking lots and parking meters. These costs rise considerably if you must pay monthly parking fees. For example, a parking space in downtown Montreal can cost between $80-$150 per month ($960-$1,800 per year).

Annual budget for a car used as part of a Transportation Cocktail

For a household in greater Montreal made up of two adults, one using a car and the other biking and walking in the summer and using public transportation and taxis in the winter.

Notes for the chart
(1) The costs shown of using a car are those calculated by the CAA. The costs of parking, snow removal, etc., are calculated by Michel Labrecque, Cocktail transport, (1997). The figures cited for license and registration are the actual costs in greater Montreal.

(2) Depreciation is equal to the car's value at purchase, minus its value at resale, divided by the number of years of use (for example: $20,000 - $5,000 = $15,000 / 5 years = $3,000).

(3) For minimum use of parking lots and parking meters. These costs rise considerably if you must pay monthly parking fees. For example, a parking space in downtown Montreal can cost between $80-$150 per month ($960-$1,800 per year).

Annual Budget for a Transportation Cocktail in town without a car

For a household in greater Montreal made up of two adults who bike and walk in the summer and use public transportation and taxis in the winter.

Notes for the chart
(1) The costs shown of using a car are those calculated by the CAA. The costs of parking, snow removal, etc., are calculated by Michel Labrecque, Cocktail transport, (1997). The figures cited for license and registration are the actual costs in greater Montreal.

(2) Depreciation is equal to the car's value at purchase, minus its value at resale, divided by the number of years of use (for example: $20,000 - $5,000 = $15,000 / 5 years = $3,000).

(3) For minimum use of parking lots and parking meters. These costs rise considerably if you must pay monthly parking fees. For example, a parking space in downtown Montreal can cost between $80-$150 per month ($960-$1,800 per year).

2. Time

In town cars don't rule!

Have you ever seen a car advertisement that shows a driver stuck in traffic? Chances are you never have! These ads are more likely to show off the speed and acceleration power of cars. Who would be the winner of a door-to-door race at rush hour downtown between a biker, a public-transportation rider and a driver? City courier businesses found out the answer long ago: it's the biker! The public-transportation rider normally takes second place and the driver (who must find parking) often arrives last.

Obviously, the efficiency of each mode transportation varies enormously depending on where you live and go regularly. To measure your travels, have compare door-to-door trips. How long does it take by car get work, school or grocery store if count time takes park then walk destination? what about other modes getting around, like public transportation, biking, walking a combination these? Island Montreal, section "Tous azimuts" Système de Transport Montréal (STM) website (www.stm.info) can not only propose best route (including distance you'll walk) but also tell much need allot for trip ask about.

Car maintenance takes time
If you have a car, you invest a lot of time to be able to move around, even before you turn the key to start your engine. How much time do you spend shopping around for a garage, an insurance company, a retailer for tires and other accessories necessary for your car's maintenance? How much time do you spend filling the gas tank, washing your vehicle, shovelling out your car or its parking space? Fifteen minutes to get to the gas station and fill up can seem like nothing, but if you do it twice a week you spend twenty-six hours a year doing it!

What do you do when you're driving?
What do you do during your travel time? Is it more efficient to walk 30 minutes a day to run errands or go in your car and then spend 30 minutes in a gym walking on a treadmill? By the way, when taking taxis and public transportation, passengers have the possibility of reading, working, eating, sleeping, talking and even drinking a cocktail! Even if travel time to some places is faster by car, the way you spend your time when driving will not necessarily be more efficient.

3. Safety

Who doesn't know someone who was in a car accident, or worse, lost a loved one in a car accident? In contrast, even if train, bus and plane accidents make bigger headlines, they are rarer. According to the Socité de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), car accidents claim thousands of victims each year. In 2002, there were 5,450 accidents with serious injuries, 47,937 with light injuries and 703 deaths. Driving under the influence is responsible for 35% of these deaths and 20% of victims had serious injuries.

The Transportation Cocktail encourages the minimal use of a car at all times and the use of taxis or public transportation when alcohol will be consumed.

And what about personal attacks? Most large public transportation systems have their own security service as well as video cameras and other units that ensure surveillance of bus stops, metro stations and other places. Is it more dangerous to wait for the bus on a street corner, to take a taxi, or to go look for a car parked in a dark place on a little side street? When personal safety is concerned, nothing (except for car accidents) shows that any one mode of transportation is safer than another.

According to the SAAQ, young adults aged 20 to 24 are more likely than other drivers to be involved in accidents. Drunk driving is a particularly large problem for this age group. Because of this, parents who let their adolescents borrow the family car have more reason to worry about accidents related to drunk driving than about any other kind of accident.

4. The Molotov Cocktail

It's not just highway reports that show how negative the car is for our society. The over-use of private cars also has an enormous impact on human health and on the environment. By reducing our dependence on private cars, the Transportation Cocktail will help us avoid turning our environment into a huge Molotov Cocktail.

The air we breathe
Poor air quality is the most obvious impact cars have on our health. Cars are largely responsible for dust, carbon monoxide and the formation of smog in urban regions. According to the government of Canada, 16,000 people, especially elderly people with existing respiratory problems, die prematurely each year because of bad air quality in their cities. In greater Montreal, there are 1,900 premature deaths per year. City-dwellers are not the only ones to suffer. Some suburbs and rural areas are just as affected as cities because the wind blows pollution in far from its source.

High temperatures increase the formation of smog. During summer heat waves, the number of patients admitted into hospitals for respiratory illnesses increases. For example, in Toronto 20% of all respiratory-related admissions are attributed to summer air pollution. The rate of asthma in children continues to rise and outdoor air pollution is possibly one of the causes of this trend.

Climate changes
The Earth is surrounded by a layer of greenhouse gases, such as water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrogen oxides (NOx). These gases trap part of the sun's heat, just like a greenhouse does for vegetables. Without the greenhouse effect the planet's temperature would be about -18 degrees Celsius. Several of our human activities emit gases that amplify the greenhouse effect and therefore raise the temperature of the planet.

In theory, it would seem that a warmer planet would be a good thing, but, in reality, it's the exact opposite. First, it's the average temperature of the planet that rises and so in certain places the temperature drops while in others it skyrockets. This is why we talk more about climate changes than about the greenhouse effect. Second, warming happens at a very fast pace. It will be difficult, if not impossible, for us to adapt to such changes. 5,000 years ago, the temperature of the Earth was 5° C colder and the planet was in an ice age. According to the 500-member expert United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the average temperature has already risen by .6 degrees Celsius in the last 100 years. According to the climate change model used, the temperature is predicted to rise between 4 and 6 degrees Celsius in the next 100 years. That's a huge difference in such a short time!

Scientists at Environment Canada and elsewhere foresee the following consequences of climate changes:

In Canada

• Extreme weather, like the flooding in the Saguenay Region in 1996 and the Ice Storm in 1998, will happen on a more regular basis.
  
• There will be more days of intense summer heat and deaths caused by this heat. In Montreal, for example, the number of heat-related deaths is expected to rise from 70 per year to 460 by 2020.
  
• Climatic drying and the rise in temperatures risk sparking more forest fires.
  
• The water level of the St. Lawrence River will drop so low that some shipping and boating activity will be compromised. A rise in temperature of 5 C will cause a drop of 30-40% in the St. Lawrence's flow.
  
• 45% of Canada's animal species (the Polar Bear, for instance) may be harmed or may become extinct over the next 100 years.
  

• Melting icebergs and the resulting rise in sea levels will cause island countries to completely disappear. Other countries, like Bangladesh, risk losing large portions of their land.
  
• Coral reefs and many other species of marine life may completely disappear by 2100.
  

Responsible for 40% of the overall pollution in Quebec, transportation is the largest producer of emissions that cause the greenhouse effect. Experts have identified that if we want to reduce emissions causing the greenhouse effect, minimizing our use of cars in the city is a crucial priority.

What governments are doing
Scientists calculate that we must reduce emissions that cause the greenhouse effect by at least 60% if we want to avoid the most catastrophic scenarios. In 1997, the governments of 160 countries signed the Kyoto Protocol in Japan. This agreement calls for a 5.2 % average reduction by 2012 of emissions that cause the greenhouse effect. This figure was calculated based on 1990 emissions. On December 16, 2002, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien officially signed the Kyoto Protocol, demonstrating that it is technically and economically feasible to reduce our contribution to the disastrous greenhouse effect. Reductions of 10-30% would have positive effects not only on the environment but on the economy as well, by creating new jobs. These changes are a step in the right direction, but the battle against climate changes is far from won. On the international scene, several signatures are still missing that would ensure that the Protocol comes fully into effect. Nationally, Ottawa must now come to agreement with the Provinces on how to implement the treaty. Instead of diminishing since 1990, gas emissions that cause the greenhouse effect have increased by 14%.

Other issues related to cars

• The life of a car has three stages: construction, use and disposal. Looking at the overall energy consumed during these three stages, we see that 15-30% of this energy is consumed in construction. Therefore, even if we never use cars, just the fact that they are built contributes to air pollution and climate changes.
  
• Thousands of acres--among Quebec's most fertile--are covered in asphalt to accommodate cars and urban sprawl. We've calculated that each car needs three to five parking spaces: one at work, one at home, one at the shopping center and so forth.
  
• 40% of the surface area of downtown Montreal is devoted to cars! This space could be used to build housing and new businesses, form green spaces or even build bicycle lots!
  
• Traffic congestion caused by the multiplication of cars is expensive for all Quebecers in time, vehicle maintenance costs and polluting emissions. This cost is estimated at 500 million dollars each year, in Montreal alone! For businesses, traffic jams cost 600 million dollars per year.
  
• Noise from cars is a major irritant in the urban setting. More and more doctors consider noise to be an important factor affecting human health.
  

B-Transportation Cocktail Ingredients

The Urban Family

Is it possible to raise children and become property owners without leaving the city? Yes! This is exactly what Éric and Nathalie did. "There was no question that we wanted to live in the city. We both work in Montreal and we really like this city," Marie and Maude's parents affirm. "Our neighbourhood is ideal for a family," Nathalie continues. "All duplexes and triplexes have a backyard and we have a basement, too, which is essential. We use ours as a playroom. Often, I forget to lock the door at night, probably because I feel safe in our neighbourhood.

We know the local shopkeepers and many of our neighbours. Many of the people in the area are retired and, because they know us, it would be difficult for burglars to break in without being noticed. Everyone looks out for one another."

Nathalie and Éric decided to have just one car, though they both work. "In the morning, Éric drives everyone where they're going. In the evening, I come back from work by bus and I stop by the elementary school to pick up the children. We walk home from there, so at least I get a little exercise! In the evening, my commute is less than an hour. During the winter, I just need to dress warmly and it's a done deal!"

"Transportation isn't a cause of stress for us like it is for many of our co-workers who live in the suburbs and who constantly have to ask themselves if the bridges are jammed or if it's going to snow," Éric says. "We get up at 7 am and we are all on time for school or work."

Éric Fraser, lawyer
Nathalie Michaud, administrator
Marie and Maude Fraser-Michaud, 5 and 9 years old

1. Car Rentals

To help you make the choice when renting a car
It is very simple to rent a car and, once you're there, the whole process takes just a few minutes. Rental prices do, however, change every day (sometimes even by the hour!) at most car rental companies so you need to shop around a little. In just 24 hours prices can change by $20! Here are some tips.

If you have access to CommunAuto service (see the section "Sharing a Car"), use it! It is much more economical than renting a car. For instance, a car rental for a Saturday outing of a hundred or so kilometres will cost more than $50, not including gas, whereas using CommunAuto will cost you just $40. For a two day trip you'll save substantially more than 50$. For those who don't have access to car sharing, the following information will be useful.

Go according to your needs
Step 1: Accessibility: Find companies with branches that are easy for you to get to.

Step 2: Insurance. Think about insurance. If you already have a car, your insurance may cover the rental, but you will have to check the coverage conditions with your insurance company. Your credit card may also offer this kind of protection (Gold or Voyager Cards, for example). If this is the case, the rental price will be cheaper because it won't include insurance. Certain companies offer insurance without a deductible, which is ideal for calming any worries.

Step 3: Round Trip. Think about the distance you'll drive. Rental companies offer various packages which normally have a certain number of kilometres included and a fixed rate for extra kilometres.

Step 4: Call. All that's left to do is to call two or three companies that meet your needs and to compare their prices. As little as five minutes could help you save more than $20 a day!

On the telephone
You'll need to ask the price of a car rental, with taxes and insurance included. The basic price does not usually include insurance without a deductible or unlimited kilometres. If you would like one of these options, you'll have to mention it. Once you've made your choice, reserve your car right away. That way when you arrive you won't be told that they don't have any cars left at the price you were quoted on the phone!

Getting There
Some companies offer to come and get you at home or pick you up at the closest subway station. If you arrive by bicycle, most companies will agree to store your bike at no extra charge for the length of your rental.

Always check the condition of the car before leaving. If it is damaged (with scratches or cigarette burns, for example) and the company employees are not aware of it, they may charge you for repairs (an insurance without a deductible will save you this hassle). Also, note the car's kilometerage when you leave and when you arrive.

And what about small companies?
In 1998, the consumer protection magazine Protégez-vous conducted a study on car rentals. They concluded that, at best, small rental companies offered prices that were comparable with those of larger companies. However, the cars were sometimes much older, in worse condition and with less advantageous conditions (insurance with a deductible, for instance).

Why complicate your life? Travel with peace of mind and with a car in good condition!

2. Car Sharing

What?
On the cutting edge, CommunAuto is the first and only business to offer car sharing services in Quebec. More than 200 cars, distributed to 114 parking lots in Montreal, Quebec City, Sherbrooke and Gatineau are available to 5,000 subscribers.

Why?
So you pay only when you use a car, so you don't have to look for parking, so you won't have to worry about maintenance, so you'll have peace of mind!

Where?
Quebec and Sillery have 35 CommunAuto "car stations" between them. Montreal has around 65, in 9 neighbourhoods. Sherbrooke has 7 and Gatineau has 3. Longueuil was added to the list in 2003 and other locations are under consideration. If you live in one of these cities, get informed! Maybe there's a CommunAuto parking lot just around the block from you!

Who?
Men and women who are well-off or hard-up. CommunAuto's almost 5,000 subscribers are as diverse as the cities they come from.

How much?
To become a member of CommunAuto you must first make a $500 deposit. When you end your membership, this fee will be returned to you in full. After that, the basic annual membership fee is $35for those who drive fewer than 1,500 km per year. There are other fees for those who drive more than 1,500 km per year. Get informed!

Each time you use a CommunAuto car, you'll receive a bill. Tuesday through Thursday it costs $1.50 per hour (that's $15 a day) and from Friday to Monday it costs $2 per hour ($20 a day). $.28 per kilometre is added to the flat fee. This cost chart includes all the car's expenses, even gas. If you have to buy gas, you turn the receipt in to CommunAuto and they will reimburse you.

To give you a more concrete idea, a week-day trip of two hours and twenty or so kilometres would cost you less than $9. For a weekend outing of eight hours, twenty or so kilometres from your departure spot the price will be a little less than $30.

It is also possible to rent a car for several days at an advantageous price. For example, for a three-day long weekend trip of about 1,000 kilometres, CommunAuto would ask $182.50 (before taxes). That is only $33.50 x 3 x $.07+ $.12 for exceeding 100 km (300 km per day are included in the basic price). It is nearly impossible to find a cheaper deal with a rental company. For more information, visit www.communauto.ca.

3. Public transportation and taxis

Public transportation
Did you know that 50% of the people going to downtown Montreal everyday take public transportation? Doctors, students, business people and many others use public transportation because it is the most efficient means of getting around in a heavily populated urban setting.

In the bus, train or subway, you can relax or work. You can read the newspaper or a good book, listen to your favourite music on a walkman or simply talk with friends. Taking public transportation is also a time for the impromptu meetings that are such a charming part of living in the city! All this and you won't have the stress of being in traffic. So why drive when you can be driven?

To make your life easier, some public transportation systems offer an information service for bus schedules. In Montreal, in addition to an excellent website (www.stcum.info), there's a general telephone number (A-U-T-O-T-B-U-S or (514) 288-6287). Each bus stop has a number with an automatic answering service that provides the schedule for that stop. You can forget about long waits on the corner! Now, you can plan your trips down to the very last minute. All you have to do is jot down the Telbus number for your stop.

Taxis
Taxis are essential to public transportation. In many cities, they are often the privileged means of getting around. Just think of the famous yellow taxis in New York or of rickshaws, those three-wheeled bike-taxis with a seat and a little roof for passengers, which can be found by the thousands in Bangladesh, in India and in many other Asian countries. In other cities, like Washington DC, taxis are communal. A driver might pick up three residents of the same neighbourhood and drive them each to their door. This is cheaper for the passengers, but more profitable for the driver.

In Quebec, taxis are under-used. They are seen as being expensive. However, it's the most efficient means of getting to a place when parking is difficult or expensive or when you've been out on the town. If you have to work late, many employers will pay the cost of your taxi home. For the self-employed, taxis are tax-deductible expenses. Taxis are also a quick means of transportation without the work of shovelling and scraping or finding parking. What's more, bus lanes are often also accessible to taxis.

Maxi-Taxi Cocktail Costs
Do the math! For the cost of driving a car 18,000 km per year, one person could:

4. Inter-city transportation

Trains provide excellent service for the Quebec-Montreal-Ottawa corridor. There is bus service to most other cities. If you travel alone or with a companion, the cost of the train or bus is often less than that if you travel by car. For example, a round trip from Montreal to Quebec City and back by train would cost $64 if you are a member of certain groups, such as Vélo Québec or Équiterre. Based on the $.48 per kilometre that the CAA calculates as the real cost of a car, this 550 kilometre trip would cost $265. An additional perk is that when you take the train or the bus you arrive fresh and rested, so you win twice over! What's more, because you can work on your laptop computer, read, or talk on your cell phone, you'll save time!

Round Trip Montréal-Québec for Two Adults

5. Walking, biking and rollerblading

"If a friend hadn't convinced me to bike down to see the fireworks one summer night fifteen years ago, I probably never would have adopted this practical way of getting around! I imagined that pedaling downtown from my place in Notre-Dame-de-Grace would be long, difficult and complicated. The neighbourhoods along the way were unfamiliar to me! It was only after I'd done it that I told myself 'it's do-able, even fun! I can ride in-town!'"

Jane Barr, consultant, Montreal

For many people, going to work on foot, by bike or on rollerblades combines necessity with pleasure. Biking, walking or rollerblading are also excellent ways to stay in shape. Think about it. Why spend an hour a day in the car and then pay to go to the gym when you can get around on foot or by bike and kill two birds with one stone? People who exercise their way to work arrive happy and full of energy. Walking and biking are the most economical and ecological means of transportation that ever existed. They are also among the most efficient: for distances of less than one or two kilometres for walking, and less than eight kilometres for biking. Around half of our trips are eight km or less. We can easily bike from April through October in most regions in Quebec. The cold isn't really a problem because exercise warms us up. It's only the ice and snow that complicate things a little! In the winter or during heavy rain, taxis or public transportation can take their turns at ensuring your mobility.

Practical advice for the city cyclist

• Choosing your bike is really important. Choose a hybrid or a bike made for the city and be sure to adjust the handle bars and seat.
  
• Certain accessories are essential: an anti-theft lock, a front basket (a backpack is hot and awkward), a bell and mudguards. If you buy a helmet, panniers or other accessories, choose ones with built-in reflectors.
  
• Make sure that you are visible. The law requires a white reflector in the front of your bike, a red one in back and a yellow reflector in each wheel. At night your bike should be equipped with headlights.
  
• Leave your bike shorts and racing jersey at home! City biking doesn't require any special clothing. If you pedal at a regular speed, sweat shouldn't be a problem (except, of course, for those squelching mid-summer days!) because you'll stop frequently for traffic lights. In Quebec, we enjoy a relatively dry summer, so a rain jacket is rarely needed. For days when the weather isn't on your side, you can leave an outfit or two at the office and wear your bike shorts for the ride. Some employers have showers for their biker-employees or for those who like to exercise during their workday.
  
• The bike route won't be the same as the car route. Try to find residential streets parallel to the main arteries. Even if this necessitates a small detour, it's worth the trouble: it will be safer and more enjoyable.
  

If the fear of coming home loaded down like a donkey is what's keeping you from selling your car, don't worry! There are several alternative solutions. Anyone who's been through Montreal has seen bike messengers or delivery people who don't let even the biggest snow storm deter them from delivering your packages or groceries. By bike or otherwise, most retailers (restaurants, grocers, furniture and hardware stores, etc) offer a delivery service. Often this service is free. For merchants who won't deliver, there are always taxis and CommunAuto. If needed, you can always ask for the largest taxi available or rent a vehicle that fits your need (a car, minivan or truck).

An Eloquent example
"Several years ago, after my divorce, I had the choice of selling my car or selling my house. The choice wasn't too hard, especially considering that I didn't know anything about cars and that every time a blinking red light appeared on the dash, I found myself rushing to the garage. I reorganized my life around public transportation, home delivery for groceries and car rentals for summer vacations with my two children. And with a car rental, you get a new car that works and has gas! My transportation budget went from $6,000 a year to $2,500.

Later on, when I moved, my first criterion was easy access to the subway. Not having a car makes you think differently. At first it wasn't an ecological choice, but today it has become one. People are surprised that I don't have car and ask me if it's because I can't afford it! I don't want one that's all, I reply. It's incredible that people still use their cars to come downtown when there's such terrible traffic and it's so hard to find parking!

Often in the summer, my friends ask me to take care of their cars while they're away on vacation and to shuffle them from one side of the street to the other. Even then, I almost never borrow their cars. When it's beautiful out, it's so much nicer to go biking and to discover the city!

Céline Charpentier, director

The Ecologically-aware family
Louise Lauzon, renewable energy project director
Jason Potts,consultant
Aurélie Lauzon-Potts, 3 ans

Louise Lauzon - Louise Lauzon - "Curiously, even the most committed ecologists buy a car when they have children, on the pretext that without it life would be too complicated. This isn't true!

Most of the time in public transportation you will find that someone gives up their seat. With a car, you're forced to drive. It's stressful and you can't even take care of your little one. Without a car, it's faster getting around, especially in the summer. We often make arrangements to meet up with friends who have cars, and we always arrive faster than they do!

We have a bike trailer for when we travel. We set Aurélie up inside with her toys and we leave. This past year, we took a train to Vermont and then toured around by bike. We also went to the Eastern Townships with our trailer and to Mont Tremblant with a rental car.

Because we don't have a car, we have the freedom to use the means of transportation that best meets our needs. An even better advantage is the financial one. With the money we've saved by not having a car, we've bought a triplex on the Plateau, a dream that we would never have been able to make come true if we'd had a car.

C- A Cocktail of Exercises

1. Where Do You Live?

The place you choose to live will have a big impact on your daily transportation. The proximity of your job or your school is definitely the most important thing to keep in mind. If you can take public transit, walk or bike to work, it will be easier to go without a car. The accessibility of basic services will also be a determining factor. In earlier eras, cities were set up for a mix of activities; on any given street, you could find houses, stores and services. This model can still be found in many neighbourhoods of Montreal and Quebec City. It supports a lifestyle that's car-free or one that requires minimal use of a car. On the contrary, new suburbs separate residential areas from commercial and institutional ones. The result? To go buy a litre of milk, you have to burn a litre of gas!

We suggest you try the following exercise. On a map of your city or region, use a compass to draw circles with your house at the center. These circles should represent distances that you can easily walk (0 to 2 km) or bike (0 to 10 km). Then, spot the places where you go regularly. These might include your workplace, the grocery store, the local CLSC, your family daycare and the subway stations and bus stops nearest you. Seeing these destinations on the map will help you decide if you're in a position to get around without a car. If you realize that it's impossible for you to get where you need to go without a car, perhaps you should consider moving to a city or neighbourhood that's set up differently.

Many people choose to live in the suburbs for financial reasons. Houses there are often less expensive than those in the city. However, if you have to buy a second car to live in the suburbs, what you save melts like snow in the sun. On average, a car will cost its user $710 a month. Without a monthly car payment, your house-buying power skyrockets! Do the math before buying or go see a financial specialist. Without a car maybe you'll be able to buy your dream house!

2. What Are Your Transportation Needs?

Calculate the distances and the frequency of your transportation for getting to work, to your chalet, to see your family and friends and so on. Check the appropriate box for the best means of transportation for door-to-door trips. In addition to the distance, when making your choices take the accessibility of parking or public transportation into consideration as well as the time it will take for you to walk to your destination.

To print exercise #1 (.pdf) [ in French ]

3. What Is Your Transportation Budget?

Annual Transportation Budget
Before doing this exercise

Look at your transportation needs for a whole year
(for work, school, vacation, shopping, etc.)
Figure out the number of kilometres you do in a year
(The Canadian average is 18,000 km)
To print exercise #2 (.pdf) [ in French ]

4. Do You Have Time For a Car?

Time Budget
If you currently use a car, the efficiency and speed of your travel are not as great as you might think. Do the following exercise to figure out the real speed of your car travel. Compare the results of your findings with figures for biking (10 to 20 km per hour), for public transportation (10 to 20 km per hour) and even walking (4 km per hour).

To do this exercise, you'll need to know the number of kilometres you travel per year.

To print exercise #3 (.pdf) [ in French ]