The Low-Car Diet

Sometime in 2004, I totaled the Nissan Pathfinder that I was driving, and as a replacement picked up a Scion xB. It's a great car, slightly underpowered, but a very good commuter. I get an average 29 MPG combined city/highway driving, and that's slowly creeping up as I tend to employ some hypermiling techniques when scooting through town. The interior is quite spacious--I've called it the TARDIS on more than one occasion. I can probably hold four six-foot-plus-tall individuals without having to squeeze any single one of them because of the configuration of the seats (more upright like dining chairs than easy chairs).

Since I found out about Georgia Tech's Transportation system, however, I've been driving less frequently. My workplace is about two blocks SSE from Tech, my home two blocks due East of the Midtown MARTA station where the Tech Trolley regularly picks up and drops off students on their regular commute to campus. Prior to my knowledge of the trolley (and around the time of $2.50/gallon gas), I considered buying a bicycle for the two-mile trip, but the trolley saves me that expenditure. I've even taken to walking the full two miles home in the summer heat, which has benefited me with weight loss of about 30 pounds over the last two months.

So when someone pointed the way to ZipCar's Low Car Diet, I thought it was a great opportunity to put aside my car. Hopefully I can make it through all potential needs for me to use a car. The free ZipCar membership is distinctly a plus.