To be perfectly clear, this post is not about my family. We have two cars (EVs) for the three drivers in our family. And we currently have no plans to get rid of those cars. Rather, this post is about the possibilities for folks who live in my area to conceivably go without a car and the incredible financial advantages of doing so (especially for younger folks trying to get ahead).
What are the reasons most people own a car (or multiple cars)? Well, this varies of course, but I think these are the main use cases.
- Commuting to work
- Everyday errands (on the way to/from work) and periodic specific errands (grocery store, etc.)
- Eating out, entertainment, and activities
- For those with children, taking them places
- Occasional road trips
For many people, owning a car (or several) is the best solution to meet these needs. But there are many folks who live in Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree and Meridian (especially young adults who are just starting out) who should seriously consider whether that’s the case for them. This is due to the combination of Link on Demand, RTD, ride-sharing services and possibly an e-bike.
Link on Demand is a free, on-demand ride service that works very similarly to ride-share services. It currently works throughout Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree and Meridian, including the Santa Fe, Lincoln, Sky Ridge, Lone Tree Center, and Ridgegate Parkway Light Rail stations).
To be sure, it’s not exactly the same as a ride-share service like Uber or Lyft. You may sometimes share a ride with someone else, the hours are more limited than ride-share services (Mon – Thurs: 7am – 7pm, Friday: 7am – 10pm, Saturday: 10am – 10pm), and it currently doesn’t operate on Sundays. But it’s totally free.
RTD offers both light rail and buses at reasonable costs. Here’s the light rail map (and, remember, Link on Demand will take folks to both the D and E lines).
Ride-share services like Uber and Lyft (as well as taxi services) are also readily available 24/7. And, if you’d like, you can get a pretty good e-bike for under $1,000 (which you can use both for errands close to your house and take with you on Link on Demand, Light Rail, or buses).
So let’s look at how you could possibly combine all of these to meet those use cases.
Commuting to Work
For folks who both live and work in Highlands Ranch/Lone Tree/Meridian (or just outside such as along County Line Road on the edge of Arapahoe County), Link on Demand would likely work for your daily commute (assuming you work typical hours and don’t work on Sunday).
For those who work outside that area, Link on Demand will take you to multiple light rail stations (or bus stops) that will then quickly and inexpensively take you close (short walk or e-bike ride) to many work places.
Obviously these solutions are not as convenient or flexible as your own vehicle, but they are still pretty darn convenient and pretty flexible (and you don’t have to go to the gas station, maintain and repair the car, get new tires, etc.).
Everyday and Specific Errands
Almost every errand need I can think of would be satisfied by Link on Demand (or perhaps e-bike or light rail). There are multiple grocery stores, drug stores, hardware stores, clothing stores, and Park Meadows Mall within the service area of Link on Demand. There are also plenty of doctor’s offices (including several Kaiser Permanente facilities), urgent care centers, and hospitals. If and when you have the occasional exception to this, you still have access to paid ride-share services (and light rail/buses).
Eating Out, Entertainment and Activities
Again, there are a plethora of restaurants, entertainment venues and activities within the Link on Demand service area. And the connection to Light Rail then takes you to many of the main entertainment/restaurant/activity areas outside of the service area. The one major limitation is no Link on Demand service on Sundays or late at night, but ride-share services (and/or e-bike, light rail, buses) can fill that gap as well.
Taking Your Kids Places
This is likely the biggest challenge. Obviously, if you don’t have kids it’s not an issue (which is one of the reasons this idea is likely to be even more attractive to young adults just starting out). But even if you do, Link on Demand will work for many activities and ride-share services can help fill in the gaps. This could definitely be a reason why this might not work for some folks. A good solution could be to still own a car, but a single, older, efficient, inexpensive car that is only used for this (a used EV would be a great choice for this).
Occasional Road Trips
For most folks, road trips are a very occasional thing (a few times a year). The solution here is simply to rent a car for those trips. You rent exactly the type of vehicle you need for that particular trip and still save a ton of money over owning multiple vehicles.
Why Would You Want To Do This?
At this point many of you are likely thinking, “Well, yeah, this could work, but is it worth the inconvenience?” It may not be for you, but the financial advantages are huge. The average price of a new car in the U.S. is around $50,000, and late-model used cars are not particularly cheap as well. And then you have to add in the other ownership costs of owning a car(s), including car insurance, fuel, maintenance, parking, storage, etc. This spreadsheet from my podcast let’s you explore the total cost of car ownership. Pay particular attention to what your investments will grow to if you take the money you would have been spending on your car(s) and invest it instead. It can easily end up well over $1 million.
Will this be a good idea for everyone in Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree or Meridian? Absolutely not.
Will this be a good idea for a surprising number of people (particularly young people) in Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree or Meridian? Absolutely. (And don’t forget the option to add in an e-bike or an older, used EV to help cover the few outlier situations.) The financial advantages of this are so great that anyone in Highlands Ranch/Lone Tree/Meridian who thinks they might be able to make this work should seriously consider this (and perhaps give it a try for a while and see how it goes).
If you live somewhere else, you likely don’t have something like Link on Demand (although the idea appears to be gaining some traction). But you should still take the time to evaluate your transportation needs and the other transportation resources available to you and see if perhaps you could get rid of a car and replace it with e-bikes, public transportation, and ride-share services.
Fisch Financial 