About Go Car Free™

GoCarFree.org is a small but growing voice advocating for (1) reduced reliance on gasoline-powered automobiles, (2) less single-occupant car travel, (3) greater alternative transportation options, and (4) sustainable transportation innovation for a healthier population and planet. 

GoCarFree.org is based in Santa Monica, California, in Los Angeles County. LA County is the most populated county in the United States with more than 10 million residents — and 7.8 million registered vehicles.

We take a different approach to the climate problem. Instead of preaching doom and gloom and trying to frighten people into reducing their carbon footprint, our strategy focuses on optimism, pragmatism, and personal finance. We show people how much money they can save and how they can improve their lives by living car free or car lite. 

Driving a gasoline-powered vehicle is the single largest source of pollution that most people create daily. And the number one reason they drive is to commute to work or school. If we can reduce this one source of greenhouse gas we can solve the climate crisis. 

Fortunately, our society is changing for the better. Cities and towns are creating car free zones and adopting Complete Streets master plans. Real estate developers are building car free and car lite housing complexes. Public transportation is expanding. Electric scooters and e-bikes are ubiquitous. Ride sharing apps like Uber and Lyft are available almost everywhere. And new sustainable transportation innovations are being developed at a record pace. 

There has never been a better time to adopt a car free or car lite lifestyle. So please join us in our mission. With your help, we can make the world a better place with a brighter future for our children… ideally, a future with 2.5 million fewer cars.

GoCarFree.org
1223 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 104
Santa Monica, CA 90403
(310) 880-3181

About the Go Car Free™ Program

More than 20,000 people have already used the information and inspiration in this program to get rid of their cars and transition to a car free lifestyle. 

When a single car is retired and taken off the road it saves on average 4.6 metric tons of CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere each year. 

20,000 cars x 4.6 tons of CO2 = a reduction of 92,000 tons of CO2 into the air each and every year. 

Now just imagine the amount of CO2 that won’t be emitted into the atmosphere when we reach our national goal of 2.5 million cars removed from America’s roads and highways. 

Join the effort by encouraging your organization to sign up for the Go Car Free™ Program. 

About the Founder and Executive Director

CHRIS BALISH has lived car free in Los Angeles, California since 2006, and in St. Louis, Missouri from 2003 to 2006. He has inspired and coached thousands of people to live a car free or car lite lifestyle so they can save money, improve their health, reduce stress, and help save the planet.

Chris wrote the bestselling book How to Live Well without Owning a Car: Save Money, Breathe Easier, and Get More Mileage out of Life (Random House, 2006), and he is one of the leaders of the global car free movement. 

Chris has been profiled on more than 800 radio and TV stations around the world, and in more than 150 magazines, newspapers, and websites including Newsweek, Sierra, ABC News, NBC News, National Public Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, Forbes, The New York Times, The Washington Post, AARP magazine, and many more. 

He lives in Santa Monica with his wife and two young daughters, and his family is completely car free.