When I first committed to spending a week without my car, it was going to be hypothetical. I’d leave my reliable little Mini at home and perhaps sneakily drive to the gym or supermarket after work, away from the judgmental gazes of my lovely colleagues. However, life had other plans for me. On my regular drive to work one day, my car stopped at a roundabout and wouldn’t restart. After a kind gentleman helped me to get it going again, we limped to the nearest garage where the car was destined to stay put for a week. It looked like I was going to have to do this properly.
If, like me, you work somewhere remote, aren’t serviced properly by public transport, or simply live too far away to walk, the chances are you’ll drive to work. According to the RAC Foundation (racfoundation.org) there are 26.5 million working people aged 16-74 in England and Wales, and of these, 16.7 million people either drive themselves to work (15.3 million) or catch a lift (1.4 million). The RAC foundation state that in rural areas, nearly three quarters (73.4 per cent) of workers travel by car – whether as a driver or passenger. It might surprise you that even amongst Londoners, the car is the most popular single mode of travel, used by 29.8 per cent of workers. That’s an awful lot of people using cars every single day, and a significant impact on the environment.