Let me start by saying that I love cars. I love driving them, working on them, reading about them — everything. But what I don’t love is how expensive cars are and how they’re kind of horrible at getting you around town. For certain trips, cars are handy. But most often, I find it more fun and frugal to use cheap transportation alternatives.
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In fact, I can sometimes go a month without using my car to get around town. That feels good. It’s hard to justify driving a 3,000-pound car 10 blocks to buy a can of chickpeas for my humus. That’s just too ridiculously wasteful. Here are the transportation alternatives that I prefer instead:
1. A Trusty Ol’ Bicycle
Bicycles are fun and cheap. Plus, you get exercise as a nice bonus. For me, I find it kind of hard to have fun while driving a car in the city. There’s just no room on the roads. But on a bike, I’m only limited by my muscle size. Flying down a tree-lined bike path at 20 mph is pretty exhilarating.
| Pros | Cons | Joys | Pains |
| Low cost to buy and operate | Inconvenient to transport by car | Muscles | Muscles |
| Easy to lock up once you’ve reached your destination | It’s easy to go out of control and keep upgrading to better and faster bikes | Exercise and the “runner’s high” you get | Can get stolen easier than a car |
| Low impact on the environment | Parking close to building entrances | ||
| Can cover fairly long distances |
2. An Electric Bicycle
I once met a guy who owns the oldest electric vehicle blog on the internet. He let me ride four of his bikes, ranging in price from $800 to “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.” That latter bike, he said, was designed for Russian special forces.
I loved riding each bike. The torque feels like you’re riding in a Tesla (I rode in a Model S for about 30 minutes once).
Seriously, if you live in a hot climate or want to bike long distances, get an electric bike. You can even convert a conventional bike into an electric one for less than $1,000. It sounds like a lot of money, but you’ll have it paid off in no time, since you’ll be driving your car less. Range and speeds vary, but you will not be disappointed.
| Pros | Cons | Joys | Pains |
| Can bike long distances, even while tired | Expensive relative to a traditional bicycle | Fun for you and for anyone you let try it out | More invested so if it gets stolen, it’s that much more painful |
| No sweat | More things to break | Being able to just cruise | Downing the bike can be painful, since it’s kind of heavy |
| Can easily pull a bike trailer with groceries, children — you name it | Heavier and less nimble than a regular bike | Pedal only when you want to |
3. A Skateboard
I don’t have a lot of experience riding skateboards, but I know a longboard is good for commuting. I know people who do this — it’s just not my style. Although I do want to buy a skateboard to take it with me when I travel. I will strap it to my carry-on and ride it for short distances. It’s more fun and faster than walking.
| Pros | Cons | Joys | Pains |
| Low cost | Slow | The sound they make | Easily getting stereotyped as a punk |
| Easy to transport when not in use | Doing tricks | Getting hurt trying to do the aforementioned tricks |
4. Electric Skateboards
Electric skateboards seem awesome. Heck, anything electric seems awesome to me. The most famous electric skateboard is the Boosted Board. Their cheapest model is $999. It has a top speed of 18 mph and a range of eight miles.
There are several other cheaper electric skateboards available, but they can still get expensive. If you’re handy, you can DIY an electric skateboard for around $300. It’s a little fiddly, though.
| Pros | Cons | Joys | Pains |
| Fast | Expensive | Fun to ride and to let others ride | Expensive. Needs to be said again. |
| Generally good range — especially for campuses | Hard to lock up when not in use | No sweat | When you crash, it’s like being thrown from a car. |
| Big liability if it gets stolen |
5. The Infamous Hoverboard
When I Googled “hoverboard,” the first thing to pop up was a news story about how they can explode. Explosions are exciting news, so I believe the whole “hoverboards exploding” thing was a bit exaggerated. Like when Tesla got heat for having a few cars catch fire. This too shall pass.
Hoverboards are cool. You’ve probably seen them at malls. You can usually find them for about $150 and up. They're good for small campuses or anywhere indoors. But for city navigation, they’re slow, with a top speed of only six miles per hour. That said, it has a decent range: 12 miles.
| Pros | Cons | Joys | Pains |
| Great for indoors | Poor for uneven surfaces and the outdoors because it’s slow and breakable | Doing donuts on them | You move slowly |
| Relatively low price | Cheap plastic design | Never having to walk again | The startup sound can be annoying |
| Compact design | May catch fire | A burning sensation when it catches fire |
