Do I need a car in Bronxville? (White Plains, Scarsdale: transfer, school)

[B-Snow_11]

Just moved to Bronxville yesterday, do I really need a car or is public transit better/financially better? Only time I need to drive is to get around surrounding areas/go into Manhattan. I am also in short walking distance to my work.

[kletter1mann]

Originally Posted by B-Snow_11

Just moved to Bronxville yesterday, do I really need a car or is public transit better/financially better? Only time I need to drive is to get around surrounding areas/go into Manhattan. I am also in short walking distance to my work.

I guess that depends on how often you want to drive around those surrounding areas, what you want to do and how independent you want to be. Public transportation to NYC is good. In Westchester I'd personally hate to rely on the buses and my weekends would be hell without a car. Nobody here is going to be able to advise you financially except to say that owning a car costs $$. It can be not so much or as much as you want it to be.

[checkmatechamp13]

Originally Posted by B-Snow_11

Just moved to Bronxville yesterday, do I really need a car or is public transit better/financially better? Only time I need to drive is to get around surrounding areas/go into Manhattan. I am also in short walking distance to my work.

Here is a map of the Westchester bus system: http://transportation.westchestergov.com/images/stories/pdfs/beelinesystemmap.pdf (broken link)

Here are the schedules for the bus lines there: Bee-Line Bus Timetables and Maps

It'll give you an idea of whether the bus system is good enough for you. For example, the #30 runs every hour for most of the day. Is that good enough for you to rely on it? If not, is there another route within walking distance (for you) that runs more frequently?

[B-Snow_11]

The #40 stops right out in front of where I live

[JessR927]

The 40 bus is a good route which runs pretty often, and runs later than most Westchester buses. It's useful because it goes to major transfer points - White Plains & Mt. Vernon. The Metro North gets you to the city in about half an hour. You should be fine without a car - I live on the 40 route also and have gotten along fine so far.

[oberon_1]

Personally, I would not like being without a car, but only you can decide. Since you already moved, take a couple of weeks, check how you manage living with the public transportation and then make a decision.

[Iching]

As much as I hate owning a car in America (I am from Europe) it is very hard to live without one. We use it for going to Trader Joe's in Scarsdale, wife's school and getting to Metro North in Bronxville.