Why parents in Bristol are ditching their cars

Juliet Jain has lived her whole life without a car. Growing up in rural Somerset was “challenging”.

She was unable to attend afterschool clubs and had to miss out on events with friends. To travel to London, her family would have to arrive at the station hours before the train because there were only a few buses a day.

In 1997, her brother was killed while cycling along a rural road in Gloucestershire near where he lived.

“This was the most awful thing could ever happen,” the senior research fellow said.

“But it made me more determined to carry on cycling.”

When she had kids, who are now aged 18 and 21, she found it difficult travelling by bus from her home in Downend, South Gloucestershire.

Her pram was often too big to fit on buses and this meant she had to plan her journeys carefully.

“We could rarely go to places like zoos,” she said. “If we went anywhere like that it would be whole day trip so we had to really make it worthwhile.”

Her husband is from the north east of England and they have only been back once in the last ten years.

“Travelling by train with the whole family is expensive,” she said. “It’s a lot cheaper to all jump into the car.”

As well as wanting to minimising her carbon footprint, Dr Jain says there is not enough space for cars on our roads.