From The Argus letters page and website over the last few weeks, you would get the impression that people who don’t use cars in Brighton and Hove are as rare as hen’s teeth, and miracle workers to boot.
In the debate on parking charges, we have been informed that “families… need a car to get the children, picnic, towels, drinks and everything else needed for a family day out”, that “using a bus would mean getting the family up two hours earlier” and that increased parking charges mean “you cannot pop into town for a few bits and pieces without having to pay the earth for the convenience.”
We have been urged to “try carrying a week’s shopping on the back of a bike” and to “try getting a buggy on a bus with two small children and two scooters”.
One kind person even tweeted me to let me know that “it is impossible to cycle with young children”.
As a parent who has brought up two children in Brighton without ever owning a car, I find this reaction literally unbelievable.
I know from my family’s experience that it is far from impossible to travel by bus, train, bike and on foot in this city (and beyond), even with children.
So how did we manage this astonishing feat?
Really, it was nothing special.
We didn’t cycle with our children when they were very little – not because it was impossible, just because we didn’t want to.
But I’ve seen plenty of young children happily accompanying their cycling parents on bike seats and trail-a-bikes. It can be done.
We walked, used buggies, took the bus.
Walking ahead
Our children have always been stalwart walkers – now (aged 15 and 12) they stride up Hanover’s hills with ease, leaving their middle-aged parents puffing along behind.
Please don’t tell me to try getting on the bus with two small children and their endless equipment – I’ve been there and done that.
It was tricky sometimes, but mostly it was fun.
We played games and chatted on the bus – we could give the children our full attention because we weren’t responsible for driving a vehicle at the same time.
Our kids learned to respect other passengers, to sit safely on the seats, and to recognise ‘our’ bus routes and stops at an early age.
What about shopping?
We’ve tried various things, but found that what works best for us is a weekly internet shop, plus milk from the milkman, topped up with bits and bobs from our local shops.
Again, we don’t do our shopping by bike, but it’s certainly not impossible, as Becky Reynolds and Tony Green so clearly demonstrated in the Argus letters page on April 20.
Travel by rail
We usually holiday by train in the UK, and yes, we do carry the things we need.
We have decent rucksacks and pack light.
What we can’t carry, we buy or hire when we arrive – car-free tourists can be a positive boon for a seaside resort.
Train fares are too expensive, I agree.
Don’t get me started on privatised rail companies ripping people off.
But a family railcard is our friend, and we make as much use as we can of cheap advance fares and online discounts.
In 2011 we spent £720 on train, tube and ferry travel, clocking up about 2,000 miles.
We both work part-time in Brighton.
That’s a conscious choice we made, partly because we were committed to living car-free.
I walk or cycle to work and my partner has an annual bus saver ticket for her four-times-a-week commute to Falmer.
The children walk, cycle or use the bus to travel to their various activities around town. We spent about £850 last year on bus fares.
How do we afford all this train and bus travel?
We are certainly not rich – our household income is below average.
Cars cost
But we don’t own a car – so we don’t pay car tax, car insurance, MoT, parking or petrol costs.
We don’t have to pay to maintain a car and we didn’t have to find thousands of pounds to buy a car in the first place.
We never have to find the money to pay for a parking fine or speeding ticket.
Our total annual travel costs are certainly less than the £3,000-plus it costs to run a car.
There are things we don’t do because we don’t have a car.
We don’t drive into the countryside to visit tourist attractions.
We don’t shop at out-of-town shopping centres.
We sometimes can’t avoid getting wet when it rains (hooray for waterproof trousers and wellies!).
But our children have not missed out on the pleasures of being in the country.
We make good use of the bus services to Stanmer Park, Ditchling Beacon and Devil’s Dyke.
Some of Sussex’s best attractions – like Fishbourne Roman Palace, Lewes Castle, Seven Sisters Country Park, Chichester Cathedral and the Cuckoo Trail – are easily reachable by train or bus.
Real time bus information at stops and online has transformed the experience of being a bus traveller in Brighton and Hove.
Far from getting everyone up two hours early, it’s now possible to time your walk to the bus stop to be there just in time for the next bus.
That kind of innovation is something else the council spends parking income on, and I’m glad of it.
Of course, not everyone can make the shift, but thousands already have.
Like us, they’ve discovered that car-free life is cheaper, greener and healthier than relying on cars.
That’s true for our family and it’s true for our city and our planet too.
Could you live without your car? Tell us what you think by writing to our letters page or emailing letters@theargus.co.uk
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