Jane and Natalie are forced to rely on the limited schedules of public transit to get to volunteer jobs, because they do not have a vehicle and cannot afford to take a taxi. When she has time, Jane volunteers once or twice a week at the [Parent Centre]. Natalie's schedule is tight to be able to complete her full day volunteering and to be home for when her two young sons arrive after school. As she describes:

I have to take two buses in the morning…Pretty hectic to catch because have to catch this at 20 after 8. The boys leave at 10 after 8. I have to catch it to [the north end] Mall. I have to make sure the bus gets there for 8:30 because I have to transfer onto another bus at 8:30 to get me downtown.

She continues:

I feel like if I have to go somewheres it's a big rush 'cause I have to be home by 1:30 for [my son]…The buses don't run enough. It's scary - I mean the thought of him coming here and me not being home … So, for me I would have to leave first thing in the morning to do what I gotta do and make sure I'm back. Like today I went to the grocery store with my friend and it was like looking at my watch. "Okay we only have only got 10 minutes…"

When Beth's friend got ill, Beth's participation in activities outside of the neighbourhood ceased. She reveals, "I used to go to the…Women's [political party] Association meetings…And I stopped going. Well I stopped cause [my friend with the car] had stopped there cause she wasn't feeling good and I had no other way there."

Without a reliable means of transportation, the children have to depend on activities in their neighbourhood for some diversion from the routine of school and home. Michelle emphasizes that she "use[d] to go to [the] Park a lot with a friend of mine but she don't have her car no more. So that's out of the question now!" She adds that if she had a car the first thing she would want to do is go on a vacation.