One big concern my wife and I had leading up to our move to New York was how we would adjust to life without a vehicle.   Mass transit in Baltimore is worthless so we were both highly dependent on our cars to get us around.  But the thought of paying anywhere from $300 to $600 a month for parking just one of our vehicles in New York made me sick to my stomach.  So we decided to sell one of our cars and leave the other behind in Baltimore making us carless in NY.  

I may be a little pre-mature in making this statement but I haven’t missed my car one bit and I can’t imagine ever really desperately needing or wanting it in the city.  My wife and I are lucky to live in a quaint little area of the city called SoHo (stands for South of Houston St; since I know your wondering) and have the luxury of being able to walk to all kinds of awesome areas.  But even if we lived off the beaten path a bit, we could take the subway or a cab. 

Subway

My only exposure to a real subway system was when I was working on a client site in Northern Virginia and taking the DC Metro through the city.   The DC Metro system was built in the 1970’s and designed by architects to have a very open feel.  The stations have high cathedral like ceilings and are relatively clean.

With that picture in mind, was shocked the first time I descended into the New York subway system.  The stations are dark, dingy, and hot (in the summer time).  With a little research I discovered that the subway system in NY started more than 100 years ago as a series of disconnected rail lines that were later united when the city took over control. 

If you can get over the fact that the stations and railcars aren’t the cleanest areas of New York, then the subway is one of the best modes of transportation.  You can buy a pay-per-trip card and pay $2 per trip, or buy an unlimited trip card that is good for 1, 7 or 30 days.

* TIP: You can use a pay-per-ride card up to 4 times in a station.  That way you can share a card with friends or family and everyone doesn’t need to buy their own.  This doesn’t work with the unlimited card though; darn!

If you’re not sure how to get from point A to point B using NYC mass transit, I’ve listed a couple of useful websites below:

·         MTA Trip Planner (http://travel.mtanyct.info/)

·         Cool Google Map of the NYC Subway System (http://www.onnyturf.com/subway/)

ZipCar

So what about those times that you absolutely positively must have a car?  Even though these times will be few and far between, they will still occur.  Don’t pay all the money to park your car in the city just so you can use it on these rare occasions; consider ZipCar (http://www.zipcar.com).  ZipCar is like renting a car only 10 times better.  They offer two forms of membership; one for the frequent driver and another for the occasional driver.  I signed up for the occasional driver plan so I’ll focus on explaining that plan.  There is a onetime $25 signup fee then a $50 per year membership fee.   I used to spend about $100 for gas every week back in Baltimore so I made up that fee my first week in New York.   Once you are signed up, they will send you a ZipCard.  When you want to reserve a car you logon to their website, look for available cars in your area and reserve the car of your choice for the period of time that you need it.  The cost to reserve a car is between $15 - $25 per hour or between $100 - $150 per day depending on the car you reserve.   Here’s the best part, the rental fee includes insurance and gas!  That’s right; ZipCar pays for your gas by providing a gas card right in the car.

*TIP: If you need a car for the entire day, reserve it at least 2 weeks in advance.  Cars get rented for 1 hour blocks quickly making it impossible to find a car available for the whole day.

Your ZipCard is also a proxy card that locks and unlocks the doors of any car you reserve during the period of time you reserve it.   Finally, the cars all have their own parking spaces so when you are finished with the car, you just return it to the spot you got it from, lock the doors and walk away.  This is the best alternative to having your own car if you ask me.