No car? No problem for this Ottawa family

A family of five in Old Ottawa South say they've saved about $18,000 to $24,000 over the past six years by not owning a car.

Eric Campbell is a researcher at the University of Ottawa and Abigail Campbell is a federal public servant. They have three children: eight-year-old Jeannie, four-year-old Rosie — both students at Hopewell Avenue Public School — and three-month-old Archie.

"We didn't really anticipate being a family without a car," Eric Campbell told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning on Monday. "Our car, six years ago, expired, the way that most Volkswagen Golfs from 1993 do, and we just didn't get around to buying a new car. And before we knew it, we were a car-free family.

"We just started finding these short-term solutions, like renting a car when we wanted to get out of town, and increasingly ride-sharing was becoming more and more feasible, and taking taxis and of course walking any cycling everywhere. And that just kind of became the norm for us."

Stars aligned

They admit they're lucky because they live in a neighbourhood where their kids can walk to school, groceries are within walking distance, and they can cycle to work in the warmer months and walk in the winter.

"I think the stars have really aligned for us on this ... so we realize we're pretty fortunate in being able to do this right now," Abigail Campbell said.

Of course, it's not always easy. There was a time that Abigail worked farther away — a 45-minute bike ride on a good day and an 90-minute bus ride in winter — and it's annoying to cycle in the pouring rain or when there are a lot of errands to run.

"Those were days where we really thought, 'Gosh, it would be really handy to have a car right now.' It's still an ongoing experiment. We're still pretty sure we're going to get a car someday," Eric Campbell said.

They expect the time to buy will come when the kids start getting into more after-school activities.