Bring on high gas prices. I work as a bus driver- the way I see it the higher gas costs the more job security I have. Our ridership had been starting to rise proportionally to increases in gas prices.
Right now a day pass (which lets you use bus/light rail all day in the entire county) costs $5. Pretty soon thats going to be the same as a gallon of gas. And I’m more than happy to drive those cash-strapped commuters to work 
Of course, if the bus system has to pay more for gas, they might have to cut back on other things, like your salary . . .
Oh lovely. Because I’m American and have to drive I must be fat. Nice stereotype.
Sir, you are very ignorant. There’s a stereotype that Americans are ignorant about other places in the world. By the stereo types you use, you are very American.
Both. The majority of US cities do not have a centralized population looking to go to another centralized area at similar times everyday.
So buses would take forever to bring you just a few miles and trains would ride empty as the stops would be too far from people’s houses to use them effectively.
On second thought Švejk I apologize for my comments.
I was more harsh then need be, just you hit a very sore spot. I just finished a nasty month of living off roman noodles to pay for gas, and if I had other options believe me I’d take them. I plan to bike (12 miles both ways over hills) when I’m done with my evening class.
Just riding a bike at night is suicide so that currently isn’t an option.
I agree wholeheartedly, but you should re-define what you mean by “good.” I would call them serviceable. New York is one I might actually call “good” (though loosely). I haven’t hung out in Boston enough, so I won’t comment. Philly’s “L” is almost as bad as Chicago’s. DC is pretty good, and far more aesthetically pleasing than NY’s (though they’re not really the same).
The problem with having public transportation in these dense US population zones is that 1) (except for some few exceptions) they’re not as dense as most places in Europe, and 2) to really build out something more serviceable would mean massive eminent domain build outs through existing homes and infrastructure. That kind of build out with 1M+ people already commuting to work is insane. Commuting is already terrible in these places, averaging, I don’t know, based on my travels, 1 hour to go 25 miles. The US is just too big, both demographically, and land mass wise.
Well we could all switch to driving go-karts to work instead of cars. That would be insanely fun.
I expect to see sales of those mutant motorcycle-scooter things to through the roof as well. Please pay attention this summer as you are driving, as you’ll most likely be sharing the road with even more bikes than usual.
Including mine, so be careful!
Most college towns are not particularly high density but have good public transit. I lived in Santa Cruz for six years without a car with no problem.
Anyway, the day is coming one day. We just have to decide now if we are going to plan for it or not.
I disagree. Most college towns have excellent public transit for the college students. For the rest of the town, the public transit if often much less workable. This is even worse if the college town in question has only one campus. The public transit works very well for the students, living on campus, or off campus wanting to get to the college.
It becomes much less effective when it deals with locals who are neither employed by the colleges or retail work.
IMNSHO this is a much different statement and tone from your first post in this thread. I agree with you, here, where I found your original post annoying.
By and large, not.
Not really. The arguments I tend to hear are: “No one in my district has ever asked me for a bus stop,” and “Buses are only going to bring those people into our neighborhoods.”
Enlightened, no?
But Citgo isn’t a member of Opec, right?
OPEC has already stated that supply and demand are not the problem. It is people speculating on the future price of gas. Most experts say it should be 50-55 bucks a barrel. That means money people are cleaning up on a very important commodity.
Venezuela’s not a member of OPEC? Or a corporation owned by an OPEC nation doesn’t count as an OPEC nation selling directly to the American public that our laws could thus affect?
Venezuela is a very committed member of OPEC.
They will though. It will be extremely painful, but land use patterns will change dramatically in the U.S. over the next few decades. It will be like the post-WW II explosion of the suburbs, but played out in reverse.
You’re right that mass transit is not consistent with the pattern of development in most American cities. But the pattern of development in most American cities is not consistent with $10 a gallon gasoline. The invisible hand of the marketplace will push, and land use will change, whether people like it or not.
I guess my suggestion would be to make sure that oil producing countries are armed with nuclear weapons, to protect themselves from further American aggression. That way, the Americans will stop whining and either BUILD the needed public transportation infrastructure themselves, or they’ll learn to enjoy walking. Either way, the free market will sort it out. We all know that there is no lack of money (how many $/day does Iraq cost again?) so I’m confident that good ol’ American ingenuity will find a solution.
Oh, wait they are more efficient.
Demand for oil and its derivatives will not stop increasing anytime soon, the billions of people in rapidly industrializing nations preclude that. Supply cannot increase rapidly enough to drive down prices, especially considering how much of today’s exploration and development is being done in reserviors/provinces which are only economical at high prices. Agriculture, the plastics industry, and cargo transportation (trucks, ships, trains, aircraft) are all dependent on petroleum and have no viable alternatives in the near future. High prices are the new normal and no amount of hand waving and blame shifting from Congress is going to change it. Everyone, not just here in the US, is going to have to get used to these prices. The only way to spend less is to use less. Sadly, a whole lot of college-age people and rural to semi-rural poor people are taking it in the neck and it will only get worse. With luck, the auto makers have gotten the message that buyers now want high fuel economy cars and will glut the market and drive down the prices of economical used cars. Unfortunately, this will probably take several years to develop. I would guess, based on what people are saying here, that the average American is using most of their gasoline on long work commutes, not on shopping or entertainment trips. The big problem seems to be the combination of low density suburban housing and high density urban workplaces, resulting in a small number of expensive short commute homes and a huge number of semi-affordable long commute homes. A long term solution might be de-densification of the workplace. Why do so many jobs have to be crammed into a tiny piece of a city? What’s the advantage of being 2 blocks away from 10 of your competitors? If employers located their offices or factories spread out on the periphery of a city, real estate prices would even out as more area would be a short commute for somebody, but very little would be a short commute for everybody. I nearly forgot this was the Pit. Motherfucker.