In cities across North America, commuting is a nightmare. Whether you’re headed to the office, a night on the town, or a friend’s place in a different neighbourhood, traversing clogged streets can be timely and expensive.
Here are a few tips you can keep in mind to help you get around for less.
Walk
Walking will always be the cheapest way to get around. Not only do you spend nothing to get from point A to point B, but the exercise you get on the way makes the gym a little more redundant.
Poets have mused about the benefits of walking for centuries. It may not be feasible to walk the entire journey if the distance is too great, but maybe you don’t need to take a cab to and from the subway station.
Public Transit
Spending a few bucks on a bus, streetcar, or subway can take you across the city in most cities. Unless you live at a subway station and your destination is located directly at another one, the trip may involve a couple of sub-trips.
Still, you can lose yourself in a book and enjoy your time without having to navigate or concern yourself with road safety.
Bike
North American and especially European cities are beginning to seriously embrace the role bikes can play in overall transportation. E-bikes help people get up and down hills without breaking a sweat, so they can waltz into the office fresh and ready for a meeting.
Traditional bikes help you get fit on your journey and let you enjoy speeds approaching what cars drive in the city without the associated costs of owning a car. Many urban cities have a speed limit of 30 km/h, whereas bikes usually travel at 15 km/h or so.
While this may seem like cars travel twice as fast, cars get stuck in traffic and often go 0 km/h. Bikes can often weave between cars or simply forge ahead unimpeded when there’s a proper bike lane.
Regular Car Maintenance
All these other forms of transit can’t deliver what cars can. If you need to travel long distances hauling considerable cargo and public transit there is inaccessible or non-existent, a car is your best option.
To save money long-term, find the best auto repair in Toronto and the GTA to give your vehicle a long and healthy life. Canadian winters can take a toll on cars, with the ice and salt wreaking havoc on electrical components and wearing down other parts.
Look for a modern body shop that handles hybrid and electric vehicles, including luxury vehicles. It can be hard to judge a mechanic you’ve never used before, but it’s a good sign if they have the equipment to repair cars with the latest technology and more complicated luxury vehicles with unique parts that are hard to source.
Many people use all the above forms of getting around. If you don’t, consider experimenting with a new mode of transit to save money and have a smaller carbon footprint from your commute.