Sed, here's an older thread that may be of interest: Do you need a car to be a pro musician?

I've been making my living as a musician for a few months without a car, taking public transport all over my big city and its suburbs. The fact that I'm working as an entertainer rather than a concert artist (for now, anyway) means that there's a decent amount of work in one city and I feel no need to tour. I suspect that touring without a car wouldn't be feasible.

The main problem with taking transit is that it limits what you can bring. With a guitar on my back, fiddle in one hand, and gear bag in the other, I can't travel with a PA system, and getting on and off buses at rush hour is very stressful. I've also found that it's important to carry enough cash to take a taxi if there's a delay and I need to bail out.

Another alternative would be the occasional use of taxis, rentals, and car coops; although you're still burning the gas for that trip, you're using less gas than you probably would if you had a car of your own, and it may be cheaper, depending. Here's Toronto's car coop: Autoshare. It's only for Toronto, but other cities have similar organizations.

Marion