Posted on 05/09/2008 9:04:52 PM PDT by Lorianne
With the price of gas approaching $4 a gallon, more commuters are abandoning their cars and taking the train or bus instead. Mass transit systems around the country are seeing standing-room-only crowds on bus lines where seats were once easy to come by. Parking lots at many bus and light rail stations are suddenly overflowing, with commuters in some towns risking a ticket or tow by parking on nearby grassy areas and in vacant lots.
In almost every transit system I talk to, were seeing very high rates of growth the last few months, said William W. Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association.
Its very clear that a significant portion of the increase in transit use is directly caused by people who are looking for alternatives to paying $3.50 a gallon for gas.
Some cities with long-established public transit systems, like New York and Boston, have seen increases in ridership of 5 percent or more so far this year. But the biggest surges of 10 to 15 percent or more over last year are occurring in many metropolitan areas in the South and West where the driving culture is strongest and bus and rail lines are more limited.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I use 1 gallon of gas for my round-trip commute to work. If gas reaches $20 per gallon I’ll consider switching to the train.
I thought the DemocRATS always wanted people to stop driving their own cars and use mass transit.
That’s one way to bring down the price if enough people start doing that. Airline fares keep rising many will stop traveling,etc.
The same New Yorkers and Bostonians who spend about 50% of their income on housing.....
Non-corn ethanolAlso, there's indication that people might get as much, or more, bang per buck for their gas dollars with gas / ethanol mixtures.
Gas-competitive gas / ethanol mixturesFinally, I was surprised by the introduction of a machine for making home-made ethanol.
EFUEL100But watch out for fines for violating biofuel regulations.
Fines for violating biofuel regulations
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
If you’re that close, you should try commuting on a bicycle.
I went from 40 gallons a week to 3. I got lucky.
I use 1/4 gallon. If gas goes up to 20 dollars a gallon I will still ride my motorcycle to work, and laugh my head off at all those suckers on the train as I, and other bikers, have the road to ourselves.....yeeeehawwwwwwwwwwwwww!
“I will still ride my motorcycle to work”
I once had a colleague who rode his motorcycle to work. One day a large dog jumped out of the bushes in front of him, and the crash broke his leg. He asked the attending policeman “Is the dog dead”? The policeman said “Yes”. My colleague responded “Good! Or else I’d ask to borrow your gun!”.
LMAO!
It should send a surge of Americans to riot in the capital until they drill more, allow offshore drilling, Build more Nukes and ease restrictions on building refineries.
EVERY founder is spinning in their graves at the spinelessness of the American People.
Even the illegals have more of the American spirit then we do.
There, fixed that. Just about the entire difference between US and European gasoline prices are the higher taxes the Euros charge.
Currently I use about 1 gallon of gas for my round trip to work. If I were to take the bus I would have to walk a half mile from my house to the stop, a mile from the final stop to my office, the trip each way would take an hour on the road instead of twenty minutes, and would cost $3.50 for the round trip (less if I bought a $45 monthly pass). The 30 cents extra the trip costs to drive is worth the convenience.
Call me tin foil, but I think that's what both parties want. It's like taking away a man's horse.
I put $75 in the tank this morning. At the end of the day I had a little over 1/8 of a tank.
Tomorrow it won't be so bad since it is Saturday. It will only take $15 to fill the gas can for the lawn mower, weed-whacker and leaf blower.
Despite your $4.00 a day habbit, for many the gas prices are a serious problem.
And unless you are completely insulated from the economy, you will feel the effects of these prices in many ways other than what it costs you to get to and from work.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Looking for 2013...five years ahead...I’d bet on $300 a barrel. The US economy will stall half-way through the McCain 4-year era. I don’t see lower-class survival at $7 a gallon on fuel and a massive minimum wage shift will occur, to push the economy even further down. Those with kids around fourteen right now...start preparing the kid for the mental idea of no car at sixteen. If they are lucky...they might get a car for college...but at $7 a gallon...$150 a month for fuel won’t go far.
I would say the guys who are working on hydrogen-run cars....ought to have alot of momentum behind them now. If they had such a car for $50k on the market...alot of us would seriously look at it now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.