Any OzB members a one-car family? I just bought a electric bike and use it to commute to work. I am trying to convince the significant other that we only need one vehicle.
A One-Car Family
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We're a four, soon five car family.
One for dad
One for me
One for missus
Two up for sale.
perfectly reasonable for the farm life my man
Yes, because I walk to work.
If my work moved away from an easy walking route or bus ride, then we'd need a second car. Ditto if we had a kid and both worked full time.
An unhappier wife will cost you more in the long run.
Ne'er a truer word spoken.
One car (we both use) and one motorcycle (only I use, when he is going somewhere different to me). I ride my push-bike to work mainly.
Hi OP, I am interested in your commute to work as I have been looking at something similar. Which bike have you purchased and how far is it to your work(kms)? Are there specific legislation/rules for using electric bikes in Aus/QLD?
I bought a second-hand bike, here is a link to the bike https://www.proelectricbikes.com.au/aseako-electric-bike-tou…. I ride 3km to work, going to work is not a problem straight down a large hill, but riding home is when i need some extra boost. I get to work quicker than driving. Regulations are 250W is the max for riding on the road. However its hard for the authorities to regulate. I've read about people with 1400w and higher bikes, reaching speeds of 80km/hr
My current trip into work takes 45m depending on trains/traffic. I have to drive 15m to a train to then catch the correct line into work. Otherwise it would be a 10km ride, I will have to look into this a bit more.
10km ride should take you 40mins if you take it easy
30mins if you extend yourself@Okonom: Average of 20 km/hr for 30 minutes would be hard to do, if there's any hills or traffic lights/crossings
@Quantumcat: This is what Google has for my 10km ride in (if I were to do it) https://imgur.com/a/sTsw4Bo
What do you guys think I would get on an electric bike in? I would love it if I didn't work up a sweat and therefore have to shower getting into work. Otherwise would be wasting my time.
There is a limit on how much time an ebike will shave off. You still have to deal with traffic lights, other traffic (especially on bike paths, eg walkers, people with prams.)
The main benefit will be on the hills etc. based on that image, it doesn’t seem very hilly
@Quantumcat: averaging over 20km/h on a road bike is not hard. It can be done on a mountain bike, but takes a fair effort.
@Euphemistic: depends how many road crossings you have. I always ride on bike paths, not on the road, so have to cross more.
@Okonom:
Also depends if you've removed the limiter or not on your e-bike :)I ride 12km's into work on my e-bike which used to take me 40-45 minutes (top speed limited to max legal of 25km/h) I lasted 2 weeks before I got fed up with the restricted speed limit of 25km/h and hardcore cyclists passing me before I ordered one of these to remove the limiter - https://www.badassebikes.com/
My commute now takes me 25 minutes and I increased my maximum speed to 50km/h. I haven't had another cyclist overtake me in the 6 months since I fitted it. I ride on a nice wide shared path for most of my journey and a back road for a small section.
To drive into work would take me 20-25 minutes.
Only possible to implement if I were to take an extra 90 minutes commute every day (ride or Public Transport) plus extra childcare costs, or fewer work hours for me or my wife.
30 minute drive to work each way versus a 45 minute (minimum) cycle each way plus shower at work, or a 1 hour public transport (door to door).
Maybe a motor assisted or motorised bike would be viable, but what do you do when it rains?but what do you do when it rains?
Catch the bus
It really depends on the locations. Looking at the area around me (Sydney East/South-East), it's mostly one-car, and even some no-car families. Mrs uses our car most of the time taxiing kids to & fro from activities. I work mostly at home and if I need to go somewhere when I don't have the car, I'll either walk, ride the bicycle or take the bus.
With the rate of growth of surrounding suburbs, I have been telling my kids that in 5-10 years they won't be able to (and wouldn't want to) drive a car around the area, so they better pick up their cycling skills. Or maybe investing in an ebike soon :)
5-10 years they won't be able to (and wouldn't want to) drive a car around the area
That time has already come! I hate driving around the inner city and it's surrounds, especially in a family sized car!
Running a car has a large cost, so going down to 1 car will give your family a significant cost saving.
You should try to convert the savings into a tangible benefit. Eg paying off the mortgage XYZ sooner. Or a family holiday a year.
If your second hand car is owned outright and fairly reliable there isn't too much extra cost (insurance, rego, servicing). But if it's leased or loaned then you will save a fair bit.
Going to a single car can mean all the petrol and servicing costs increase as you do more with it.
You can use some of the savings by (a) hiring a larger car for driving holidays (b) getting the odd uber/taxi when the schedules collide
Both cars are owned outright, third party insurance, DIY basic services.
We considered getting a second car for me to drive to the station every day but decided against it as I reach the cap every week on the Opal card so it doesn't cost me any extra to get the bus to the station.
Count the amount of times per year that you need to used 2 vehicles. then calculate if it's worth the cost of ownership vs borrowing/car share the vehicle when needed.
We went one car family for a while. I was commuting to work by bike. It did mean I needed to organise a lift a few times for weekend outings but could manage with that fairly well. Was in a fairly poor area for public transport so that didn't help much. Just needed a bit more organising.
Eventually I bought a car when our oldest started going to preschool and my wife wanted to return to work a couple of days a week. Now the kids are at after school sport more often two cars are much more convenient. Taking kids in different directions on the weekends with poor public transport would be much more difficult than running two cars.
Over the last few years car up on average once per month, so it doesn't get used much, but I've also upgraded it twice starting with a $1500 corolla and now got a twin cab ute (10 years old) coz the kids and toys are getting bigger.
Far too many variables.
What is a “family”?
Do you live and/or work in the city?
How is public transport in your area?For me, public transport is not possible (does not exist at my location), so I would have to taxi ($$$$$$) and it is 14km travel into work, where I would need to also transport 3 kids to school/day car. I do drop offs, wife does pick ups (staggered hours), so Wife would need to do the reverse.
One car family even before joining ozbargain.
One car family of three.
We both use public transport to get to work each day, hubby works in construction ( early start and finish) he will take bus and train to work around 5am. I drive our son to school (10mins each way) then park at the train station and commute. Hubby then picks up car on the way home, and picks our son up from afterschool care and me from the station. our system works pretty well and on the odd occasion we need to be different places at the same time and can't drop the other off first, then one will uber or take public transport.
one car, PT to work and hire a car when we really need 2
I wish! The current count is probably somewhere around the 20 mark!
My family of 3 doesn't own a car. We stay in East Melbourne, which is 10 mins walk to the city. We use goget or carnextdoor when we need car on weekends. Otherwise just take bus /tram /train.
We have one car for the three of us, and our big dog. I try to catch public transport when possible.
Save on rego, petrol, maintenance.
We used to be but then I changed jobs and we had very different schedules. If you can ride to work then it can work for you. Just really depends on the situation.