Submitted by dannyj611 t3_zy9x4j in personalfinance
28carslater t1_j27bd3w wrote
Reply to comment by some1sWitch in Budget Struggles: Can't Afford my car, but can't live without one by dannyj611
You don't understand, depending on where you are and your needs it is very difficult to not own private transportation.
>A walkable city.
You've never seen pictures of Pgh have you? Aside from some areas in the City proper/peninsular, its nothing but steep hills and a literal mountain. I grew up about two miles from the second steepest city street on the planet. This is why normal long time residents simultaneously mock and respect the pedal biker extremists.
>With great uber and lyft options.
I had an employee who didn't own a car and used this strategy. Our office was Downtown so he took the "T" (light rail) for $100/mo (don't recall exact figure) on the yearly pass and used Uber for groceries etc. from his house in the suburbs. In 2018 we looked at his receipts and Uber was about $150/mo at the time, combined with the T pass he was sitting $250. Now he rightly argued it was still cheaper than anything but a cheap lease or paid off car between payment, fuel, and insurance but that was 2018. I don't know what Uber is going for today, the math may no longer be there.
>And pub transpo is awrsome
Based on the phrase "public transport" you sound as if you're from a Commonwealth nation. Firstly, "public transport" mostly sucks everywhere in the US and especially here in Pgh. There are a swath of City neighborhoods with regular busses but because of the geography of three rivers, bridges, tunnels, and hills or mountains very regular bus service drops off outside of Zone 2, 4, and 5. There is a light rail service but it only flows from Downtown to the South Hills, and it sucks too (it was built on existing remnants of a street car system). The Port Authority is also massively bankrupt all of the time and has essentially failed, for the service it does provide vs cost the ROI is not there and most of it should just be shut down, but I digress. The Pittsburgh region has geographical challenges closer to Switzerland but without the wealth and tax or gov't structure.
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