-Do you work more than 5 km from where you live?*
-Is access to public transport in your city terrible or dangerous?
-Do you live on the outer edges of a city with less access to public transport?
-Do you have young children?
-Are you elderly, physically disabled, or have some other physical condition that makes it difficult to move around?
-Does your job require you to move around town a lot during the day?
-Is your schedule pretty insane?
-Is it January and you live in a place with freezing, freezing winters?

If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, then you might need to drive. You might also want to consider options such as carpooling, car sharing, or driving to the nearest train (in the cases where you’re in the suburbs of a major city and such options are available). If the answer to all of these questions is “no”, then I refuse to feel sorry for you when you complain about gas prices, traffic, or how out of shape you are.

I see a lot of cars (personal vehicles) on the road here in Berlin, often with one driver in them. I’m assuming (hoping) that at least a few of them are subject to questions 6 and 7, but that can’t be the case for all of them. Berlin has fantastic public transport! It’s full of cycle lanes! Save some money, and save the environment 🙂

*I even think further than this shouldn’t be an issue, but I’m fairly experienced with cycling for transport.