# Cheap subsidised Gas for decades **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 8, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-subsidised-gas-for-decades/599003 "2011-10-08T15:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-subsidised-gas-for-decades/599003/42 "2011-10-13T18:45:44Z")
> [@brewha](#): > > I think you are overestimating the brilliance of our rail network. There’s no rail road track with 15 miles of where I live. I’ve lived in places where it’s even farther. The US is just too spread out for railroads to be a viable form of public transportation. It works very well for some purposes and people (mostly if you live in a well-populated area, and work in a central business district). It works very poorly for others. I worked in downtown Chicago for the past 22 years, and lived in various suburbs. Taking public transportation (commuter rail, and later light rail (the L) ) was always feasible, as the train lines were built for bringing people from the surrounding areas into the central business district of downtown Chicago. I just started a new job, in a different suburb from where I live. My suburb is served by the commuter rail line, as is the suburb where my new job is located. But, to take the train would be a nearly 3-hour door-to-door trip, as I’d have to take one train into downtown Chicago, then hop on a different train to head back out to a different suburb. Alternately, I could take the public bus. According to the online trip planner which the bus authority has, it would require taking five different buses, and take 3 hours. So, I now drive to work (a 35-minute, 20-mile drive). ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-subsidised-gas-for-decades/599003/43 "2011-10-13T19:05:45Z")
> [@studmuffin](#): > > The average European drives 12 000 miles per annum and earns roughly $47 000 per year. I take home more than that, but I drive about 20,000 miles per year. My workplace is a 40-mile commute from my home, 80 round trip. > [@](#): > > The size of your country is fairly immaterial to the amount of miles you drive. I disagree. If I could cross my home country on a single tank, I’m sure I wouldn’t complain about gas prices either. I can’t even reach the eastern edge of my home _state_ on a single tank. > [@](#): > > One could, [shock horror] move closer to your place of work, and therefore dispense with wasted time and money commuting to and from work :smack: I like where I’m living and I like the school my kid is in. My home is just on the outskirts of a good-sized (population 220K) city. Moving closer to my work would mean moving to a city with lower property values and a higher crime rate (which, as a prosecutor, actually keeps me busy). Having a bit of a drive is preferable. > [@Ramira](#): > > How is it defined “needs to be”? In the US it is essentially a market price for petrol, so it seems it is then at the price it ‘needs to be.’ Our price is based on the world price of oil, and the world price is the plaything of nations that intentionally decrease production in order to restrict the supply and drive the price up. If the wells were run at full capacity, oil would be cheaper than Hermes Conrad’s fat ugly promiscuous momma. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-subsidised-gas-for-decades/599003.md?page=2)