GERBER FAMILY STEERS CLEAR OF CARS; TAXIS, FRIENDS AND WALKING HELP WITH TRANSPORTATION NEEDS

Yale Gerber used the pay phone at Wink's Mini-Mart to call a cab for him and his mother.

Mitchel and Barbara Gerber steer clear of cars. They have never owned one.

Most people view personal vehicles as essential to their lives, particularly in a city like Cape Girardeau where public transportation is limited.

But the Gerbers say they have survived just fine without a car. They hitch rides with co-workers and friends, take taxicabs and walk.

Dr. Mitchel Gerber, 48, doesn't have a driver's license. He never bothered learning to drive. His wife didn't learn how to drive until she was 32.

The couple grew up in New York City but have lived in Cape Girardeau for 11 years. He is a political science professor at Southeast. She works as a teacher's assistant at Jefferson Elementary School.

They have a 7-year-old son, Yale. He isn't named for the university, but rather after his grandmother, Yetta.

Yale knows the telephone number of the local taxi company by heart. He's been calling for a taxi for the family since he was 4 1/2 years old.

Mitchel Gerber generally hitches a ride to the university with a faculty colleague but usually takes a taxi home.

Barbara Gerber takes a taxi to her school job. At the end of the day, she often gets a ride home with co-workers.

They call a taxi to go to the supermarket or to visit the doctor.

The Gerbers estimate they spend $100 a month on taxi rides, but Mitchel said they don't have to pay for insurance, gasoline or routine maintenance and repairs car owners do.

"We don't need new tires. We just need new shoes," Barbara said with a laugh.

When they need to go to St. Louis, they ride in a Bootheel Area Rapid Transportation van, which makes regular trips between Cape Girardeau and the St. Louis airport.

Married since 1974, they have never felt a need to own a car.

Their reliance on public transportation is a reflection of their childhood. Mitchel grew up in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Barbara grew up in Brooklyn.

Public transportation is a way of life in New York City, which has buses, taxis, commuter trains and a subway system.

Mitchel's parents still live in Brooklyn. They don't drive.

Mitchel says it's too expensive to drive in New York City. Gasoline and insurance are costly, and parking spots are hard to find.

Barbara's dad drove, but her mother never did.

Mitchel attended college at three different schools in New York City, getting his doctorate from New York University in 1982 while all the while relying on public transportation.

His first full-time college teaching job was at Illinois State University in the Bloomington-Normal area in the mid- to late-1980s.

Fortunately for the Gerbers, the area was served by public buses.

Barbara secured a job working in a residential facility for the developmentally disabled.

To do so, she had to obtain an Illinois driver's license. Despite having limited vision, she learned how to drive in an instructor's car and passed the driving test.

Barbara is blind in her left eye and has limited vision in her right eye, the result of a brain tumor that afflicted her at age 15. The brain tumor was removed, but not before it damaged her eyes.

Although she doesn't drive, Barbara is proud of her license. When the Gerbers moved back to New York, she obtained a driver's license there.

When the Gerbers moved to Cape Girardeau in 1989, she obtained a Missouri driver's license by passing the written and vision tests.

Mitchel has a Missouri I.D., a card for non-drivers that is issued by the license bureau.

They initially rented an apartment near Arena Park. Two years later, they moved into their Kevin Street home in the Woodland Hills neighborhood.

The house has a two-car garage. The Gerbers use it for storage. They've even had a garage sale.

The Gerbers love to walk. Their biggest complaint is that many Cape Girardeau streets don't have sidewalks.

Barbara has walked home from West Park Mall, a distance of several miles. Mitchel has done his share of walking, too.

One time he walked through snow and ice, traveling from the university campus to his son's bus stop in the Woodland Hills neighborhood. He made the trip in 45 minutes, arriving in time to pick up his son after school.

In good weather, walking is wonderful, they say. "You can smell the roses. You can appreciate the changes in the seasons," he said.

"You never know what you will find on a street," said Mitchel. His son has a whole collection of coins he has picked up during walks.

Mitchel said walking is a stress reliever, too.

"You can clear your mind" during a walk, he said.

He regularly walks when he wants to run errands during the day. He walks from his campus office to the bank. He often eats lunch at a Chinese restaurant within walking distance of the campus.

"It's good exercise," he said.

In Brooklyn and other urban places, people think nothing of walking several blocks to catch a bus or to visit a store.

Mitchel said they try to show nature to their son when the family takes walks. They routinely walk from their home to a nearby convenience store on Sunday to buy a newspaper and grab a bite to eat.

Even the rainy weather Sunday didn't stop their outing. They just carried umbrellas to keep dry.

At the convenience store on Sunday, Yale called a taxi to take him to a piano rehearsal.

While they do accept rides from friends and colleagues, they won't do so from strangers.

Even without wheels, the Gerbers say they won't be dependent on others.

Mitchel said he would prefer to learn to fly than learn to drive.

It's habit and not fear that has steered him away from learning to drive.