No vehicle no problem for couple

After the brakes went out on her Isuzu Trooper eight years ago, Shea Wickelson decided that she'd had enough.

She didn't want to buy a new car and make $300-a-month payments. She didn't want to fix the old car and end up at the auto shop for another repair in six months. And she sure didn't want to continue lining the pockets of oil company executives every time she filled up her gas tank.

So Shea and her husband, Paul Wickelson, made a life-changing decision: They'd simply quit driving. Who needs a car, they decided, when it's just as easy to take a bus, ride a bike or venture out on your own two feet?

The human race did just fine without the automobile for thousands of years, says Shea, "so we thought, 'Let's give it a try. What do we have to lose?"'

Several pounds for one thing, along with the headaches of being stuck in traffic and forking over $3.10 a gallon for gas.

"It's the best decision we ever made," says Paul, who gave up his minivan and hasn't looked back. Instead of paying about $10,000 a year for two car payments, insurance, repairs and gas, he and Shea now budget about $150 annually for bike repairs and bus passes.

With the savings, Shea was able to cut back her hours as a high school science teacher at City Academy, and Paul, a teaching assistant at the University of Utah, can take his time finishing his master's degree. But the biggest advantage to not owning a car, they say, is what the new lifestyle has done for them physically and mentally.

"We're healthier," says Shea, 29, "and we're not contributing to the pollution problem. Riding our bikes, we feel so much more in touch with the natural world."

"It's a nice way to avoid going from box to box," adds Paul, also 29. During the winter, he admits, "it can be a little rough, especially during an inversion. But it definitely wakes you up in the morning."

Eager to share the benefits of throwing away the car keys, the Wickelsons wanted to meet me for a Free Lunch of vegetable curry at their favorite restaurant, Salt Lake City's Koko Kitchen.

It took about 15 minutes for them to make the trip by bicycle from the home they bought recently near Jordan Park.

It was about 95 degrees with a hot wind, "but it's not so bad when you're moving," says Paul. He takes a long sip of iced tea and smiles. "At least, it's a flat ride from the west side. When we lived in the Avenues, it could be brutal getting up the hill."