Car-free by the Numbers

What do we mean by "car-free"?  No, we have not completely sworn off cars.  We simply don't own one.  Our car-free (or car-lite) life includes many modes of travel.  For about a year and a half in 2009-2010 I dutifully recorded every one of our trips away from the house to see how much we used each of the many modes of travel.  I call it the Riding Phrius Data Project.  It is a pretty cool dataset.  Like many cool datasets, it has yet to be fully explored.

Below is a sneak preview into how many miles we traveled by bus/light rail, bike, rental car, visitor's rental cars, etc. for the 9 months from March - December 2009.  It does not include air travel, the Achilles heal of most people's carbon footprint.  In this 9 months we traveled a total of 7176 miles, 58% of which were divided equally between public transportation and bicycle.  I look forward to sharing some more gems from the Riding Phrius Data Project. 

Rental Phrius for Winter Fish

Riding Phrius includes many modes of transportation for us - bike, bus, walk, carpool, borrowed cars, and rental cars. Of all these, a rental car is essential for escaping the city. A 30 minute bus ride takes me from work to the MSP airport and its many rental car agencies. The perks of renting are numerous. We get a car nicer and cleaner than any we've ever owned. Theo is thrilled with a car adventure. We get some style points (or not?) when we land a PT Cruiser. What more could we ask for?

This President's Day Weekend we escaped with three other families (riding Prius, mini-vanish, and sedanish for those who are curious). We drove 130 miles to the Heartwood Retreat Center in western Wisconsin. As eight adults and eight kids under the age of eight we shared a modern duplex cabin right next to the x-country ski trails. While the skiing conditions were lousy, trail walking, sledding, skating, and ice fishing were great. Skating on the big Hoinville lake was wonderful. The return of sub-freezing temperatures following a week of thawing made for the incredible booming sounds of the ice tightening in the lake's basin. It can be unnerving as you skate about, but is a classic northern winter lake experience. As the lake boomed, the kids were ice fishing in the many holes we drilled during their naptime. Here's Theo with his first fish caught fishing through 2 feet of ice.

The Rental Phrius propelled us 273 miles for only $72 dollars (+$20 of gas) for three days of winter escape. A fine deal that left us free of most other costs of that car and enriched with a great family outdoor experience with friends.