What I learned by not owning a car for 30 Years

I’ve saved over $500,000 for starters.

I haven’t owned a car since my senior year of high school in 1983. I didn’t need a car at University and instead used the Greyhound bus and hitch hiking as well as the good old-fashioned ride share board to go back and forth between home and university.

I moved to Japan in 1988 and because of the ease of public transportation, being able to bike to the train station every day, and the fact that I was too lazy to drive in a place where it is routine to spend an hour getting into a parking garage, I avoided the joys of car ownership from 1988 until today.

More importantly, in Japan companies pay for public transportation. So I didn’t pay a cent for public transportation in all the time I lived in Japan to get to work. Subsidizing public transportation and making it financially attractive is the single most important way of getting riders to a critical mass.

Because I have never owned a car, I haven’t replaced it seven times or spent any money on tires, oil changes or brake alignment. Think of all the time I saved by not driving to and from the auto mechanics. All the uncomfortable conversations about choices between replacing the part or replacing the car.