[Dieseltuned]

Update :: Month 5 Week 5 :: May 2016

My initiative is now in its fifth month, the no car week for May 2016 concluded on Friday 27th May 2016. Follwed the same rules, no car all week, used office and public transportations.

I suggest all in Mumbai to give the buses a try if at all you can if time/work permits. No matter what bus you take (BEST, NMMT, etc) they are really a great option to rely on.

I hope I am able to keep my new year resolution for the whole year.

Regards

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by Dieseltuned

My initiative is now in its fifth month, the no car week for May 2016 concluded on Friday 27th May 2016. Follwed the same rules, no car all week, used office and public transportations.

I suggest all in Mumbai to give the buses a try if at all you can if time/work permits. No matter what bus you take (BEST, NMMT, etc) they are really a great option to rely on.

How I would love to take the public transportation but irregular frequency, too much packed bus puts me off. While going to office is not an issue in my case, I can take the BEST or TMT but while coming back its a nightmare. I try to avoid taking more than one bus to reach home and usually look out for the direct routes one. Now these are irregular and the timings are odd which makes it full when it comes to my stop. Hence I stopped using the public transportation. Even they are no saints when it comes to spewing black smokes.

Instead I try to do normal speed drivings, avoid sudden braking, get the car services regularly, use known pump. I contribute this way.

[Dieseltuned]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

How I would love to take the public transportation but irregular frequency, too much packed bus puts me off. While going to office is not an issue in my case, I can take the BEST or TMT but while coming back its a nightmare. I try to avoid taking more than one bus to reach home and usually look out for the direct routes one. Now these are irregular and the timings are odd which makes it full when it comes to my stop. Hence I stopped using the public transportation. Even they are no saints when it comes to spewing black smokes.

Instead I try to do normal speed drivings, avoid sudden braking, get the car services regularly, use known pump. I contribute this way.

Agreed that the buses are irregular, but if you try on for a few days, you will get a hand on their timings, like for example from my experience I have figured out that there are almost no AC buses between 08:30 PM and 09:00 PM at Hiranandani bus stop towards Borivali. All of them AS 461, AS 524, 123, 125 (All towards Borivali) come either between 08:15 and 08:30 or all after 09:00 PM, so i adjust my office timings accordingly.

Buses are no saints as they also run on fuel and are badly maintained, but look at it from this way " The bus is already on the road and fairly available everyday, so atleast the fuel that my car would consume would be saved"

A conscious effort has to be made to use public transportation and i am glad you have tried. We have got so used to our rides that waiting for 10 minutes for a bus makes us go crazy.

Regards
Dieseltuned

[Dieseltuned]

Update ::

Month 6 Week 6 :: June 2016 :: 6th June to 10th June was my no car week

Month 7 Week 7 :: July 2016 :: 18th July to 22nd July was my no car week

Month 8 Week 8 :: August 2016 :: 16th Aug to 19th Aug 2016 was my no car week

Follwed the same rules, no car all week, used office and public transportations.

I have also made a slight tweak to my journey. In the mornings i take the office bus. Evenings are generally harrowing considering that MMRDA has blocked the Western Express highway for Metro 7 constructions. So, Instead of taking the bus back home, I take a longer, circuitous route.

Powai - > SakiNaka (Take a rick or ola/uber)
Saki Naka -> Andheri rly.stn (Take the metro)
Andheri -> Borivali (Western railway suburban train)
Walk home from Borivali station.

I know this is a bit hectic and i am always on the move, but saves me atleast 45 minutes of travel time in the evenings.

Once you start travelling by trains and get a hang of things the time savings that you get are huge. WR trains are more or less on time and I reach home by 09:30 PM which other wise if i would have driven home would have taken me atleast another 45 minutes more.

I hope I am able to keep my new year resolution for the whole year.

Regards

[bblost]

Due to the bunch of Holidays earlier this week, both Monday and Tuesday had very less to moderate traffic on the roads.

My home to office commute is about 18 kms.
Time from Google Timeline:
Cycle took me an hour to reach office and 50 mins to return home.
Car took me 30 mins to reach office and 35 mins to return home.

Cycle time is independent of traffic. But when there is a traffic snarl my car time can jump to 45 mins.

It just reinforces my belief that if people living 5 kms or less started using cycles or simply walked to work, our traffic problems will just vanish.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by bblost

It just reinforces my belief that if people living 5 kms or less started using cycles or simply walked to work, our traffic problems will just vanish.

Agreed. Half of Gurgaon's traffic problems are folks with big egos and no patience driving big cars small distances (often under 1-2 km) for trivial tasks. We have a pretty decent supermarket 600m from our apartment complex. Besides us, the only pedestrian visitors in that market, from our complex are the expat Chinese!

In Chennai, years of gridlock has taught folks to use two wheelers where possible. My neighbors who owned a Merc and a Verna regularly used a scooter to buy groceries or visit the nearby temple, than spend half an hour in taking the U turn to the temple!

I don't see that commonsense approach in Gurgaon. Partially our ego - partially the safety angle, esp for women.

[bblost]

2016 was a good year for my cycling.
I used it for over 40 days and added up some 1700 kms in commuter kilometers.

Quite happy that in my small way, I reduced my carbon footprint and also gained some health.

[Dieseltuned]

hi all,

Happy to note that my yearly endeavour to follow the no car week was succesful and have ensured that each month I follow it diligently.

Update ::

Month 9 Week 9 :: Sept 2016 :: 5th Sept to 9th Sept was my no car week

Month 10 Week 10 :: Oct 2016 :: 24th Oct to 28th Oct was my no car week

Month 11 Week 11 :: Nov 2016 :: 31st Nov to 04th Nov was my no car week

Month 12 Week 12 :: Dec 2016 :: 19th Dec to 24th Dec 2016 was my no car week

SO, finally does this make any differnece ? To me it did a whole lot of differnce, I kept my yearly resolution, saved a lot of fuel and also saved a lot of emissions.

I would surely urge all of you to try this out, it really makes a lot of difference.

Mods :: I have completed my yearly update for my initiative and have achieved what i aimed for.

Regards
Dieseltuned

[Chetan_Rao]

Good stuff Dieseltuned, kudos for persevering with your resolution

Come April, it will be two years since I sold my car and holding off buying another as long as possible. Given we're just just two of us at home with no dependents or kids who may need emergency help, we've not really missed having an own car at all. Public transport and two-wheeler usually take care of most needs, and the Metro line servicing our area has added further convenience.

Waiting to see if I can go another year without a car in the garage. One step at a time

[bblost]

Wrapping up January 2017 with 244 kilometers of Home-Office commuting.
I was on vacation for a couple of days and hence missed out on adding more kilometers.

Out of 21 working days in January. I was on vacation for 3 days.
And 7 out of the 18 commutes were on my cycle.

[Dieseltuned]

Originally Posted by bblost

Attachment 1602624

Wrapping up January 2017 with 244 kilometers of Home-Office commuting.
I was on vacation for a couple of days and hence missed out on adding more kilometers.

Out of 21 working days in January. I was on vacation for 3 days.
And 7 out of the 18 commutes were on my cycle.

That is a great effort, Could you please share your daily route for commute and the traffic condictions.

Regards
Dieseltuned

[bblost]

It is approximately 18 kilometers between my home and office.

5 kilometers of a divided road with a good amount of traffic.
13 kilometers of a service road that runs adjacent to the Hyderabad Outer Ring Raad. This road is quite decent but is undivided and has a lot of speed breakers every 2-3 kms. Not much traffic but I have to be careful of speeding idiots.


My motorcycle on the same route usually takes 30 mins.
Cycle takes 50-55 mins coming to work and 45 mins returning home.
There are lot of climbs and descents that cause this difference in trip times.

[freedom]

Originally Posted by bblost

Out of 21 working days in January. I was on vacation for 3 days.
And 7 out of the 18 commutes were on my cycle.

Fantastic!! I don't do a no car week, but I do a no car days. I take my cycle to work 2 times a week. It's so stress free to ride in peak evening traffic! it takes me the same or less time to ride 10km in evening traffic.
Cycle is definitely the way to go if your lifestyle and job location/workplace etc.

[bblost]

February Update:


Used my cycle for 9 out 19 working days in February.

February: 323 kms
2017 : 567 kms.

[dass]

For the last three months, I have been using office cab to commute to and fro to office. This is due to the severe lack of parking space in the office and the frustration of either having to wait for the parking or to shell out Rs.30/hour to park. While the flexibility has taken a beating, I am more than happy off late considering that I haven't refueled the car is the last two months (Jan 2nd was the last refill) and also the little bit I am contributing towards saving the road from snarls.

I am not really sure how much longer this will last, but I am willing to do this as much as possible and even if I get my own vehicle, I will plan to travel by the cab once a week for sure.

Great thread and I wish most people on the road try this out. Let us keep as many vehicles off the road as possible.