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, we’re seeing very high rates of growth the last few months,” said William W. Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association.
“It’s 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 ...
Hey go gov regarding the leafblower..do what we did years ago-get out the old broom. LOL
I read a "futurist report" last year that a relative gave me. The jist of the article is the American people will be living much like their parents did back in the 50's and 60's- a very pared down lifestyle. 1-2 cars max per family, one TV etc. The American people of the future will live comfortably sorta like how many eurpeans live today- smaller homes, not near the consumerism we have today.
The cause of this will be primarily the high cost of living. Besides gas, taxes will be going through the roof to pay for the increasing burden of Medicare SS etc.
If you read about current lifestyle trends many people are shedding their "materialism" and every changing trends trying to keep up with the Joneses and going back to smaller homes, shedding their "gadgets" - just a simpler lifestyle. They are finding they are enjoying life more without the debt burden over their heads and they are findind they have more time on their hands.
Funny you mention that. I just finished watching a video on youtube of a charming young lady "keepin' it real" on a train in Atlanta. Youtube is full of such videos filmed on trains, subways and buses. It's enough to seriously discourage my using public transportation.
I have a theory about the coming tax burden for paying entitlements
There are literally 100's of billions sitting in tax deferred accounts like (401 K) where you pay the taxes after you start withdrawing and reach a certain age.
I can see Uncle Sammie telling all those people, "sorry, we need to double the tax rate you are paying on your (401 K) plans to bail our sorry asses out"
As an example: You put away a million dollars in a (401 K) at a tax deferred rate of 15 % and government says you got to pay 30% when you withdraw it
Entitlements problem solved
Busses never go where I want to go.
And I ended up in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, with the last train I rode on and almost got stuck there for three days. The engineer told me the Indians up there still shoot arrows at the train. That got me worried. But the town did boast a great Chinese restaurant. And a neat little sign at the edge of town that said, “This area unchartered.”
Yes I agree. I also don't ever think the gubmint will allow tax free distributions from Roth IRA accounts downin the future when the bulk of the people start pulling that money out. .They will add some loophole to get tax money. You wait and see. Sorry I don't trust the gubmint to not screw us over..
The is usually what happens when you have been spending tomorrow’s money. Eventually tomorrow’s bills show up and you pay.
That's in "most" of this country.
One reason mass transit works so well in Europe is most of their populations are highly centralized in cities and towns and their commercial areas are very centralized. Also, their land areas are so much smaller than we have here. Even the "large" countries are smaller than most states. Great Britain is smaller than Oregon, Germany is smaller than Montana, Italy is the size of Arizona. A medium sized county like Austria is smaller than Maine. Belgium is about the size of Maryland. You get the point.
So, mass transit works well for them because of their physical setup. Their commutes are very short, business is highly centralized, and their transportation systems are well developed and efficient.
It is a goal of our "smart growth" people here to make the USA like Europe, with most of the people centralized and living in the cities. This higher gas price fits right in with the Green Agenda. They're tickled by the pain being inflicted. It's what they want. Their not interested in drilling for oil or lower prices. What they want is a massive change of the American lifestyle so people are more controllable - just like they are in Europe.
The private automobile is the greatest boon to individual freedom imaginable. That's why it must be eventually available only to the elites.
Gas at $20 a gallon fits right in. It's no accident this is happening.
“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.”
We are all feeling the effects, but the only constructive thing we can do is to keep our own lives in order. In my case that means a short commute to work, and no debt. Until Al Gore is committed to an insane asylum where he belongs, no one will invest the billions needed for investment in U.S. hydrocarbon resources, and oil prices will continue to rise.
“What about going to the store, visiting gramps, taking a vacation, going to the mall, visiting friends”
The store is close, gramps is in heaven ( I miss him ), vacations we budget for, the mall we go to much less, and friends I mostly email.
Public transportation is a joke most places in the USA. Without public funding it would not last a month.
“Public transportation is a joke most places in the USA. Without public funding it would not last a month.”
A large part of the problem (IMHO) is that public transportation is run as a monopoly. The municipal government doesn’t want any competition; because they think that competition would just cut into their bottom line even more.
Municipalities also regulate the taxi and limo industries & they keep a wide gulf between the services offered by taxis and transit. If competition were allowed (with some consumer protection regulation, perhaps) — then there would likely be a much wider range of services. For instance, perhaps you could take a van, with luxury seating, from your home to work. Like a taxi, the van would come when you summoned it (maybe by a simple text message from your cell) — unlike a taxi, there would be other riders to share the cost of the trip. Unlike a bus, these other riders would be well behaved, or they would be blacklisted.
There is no way to “fix” public transit as it exists — throwing more money at it, just turns it into a money pit. The service model needs a complete overhaul & competition is the best way to achieve that.
The head of the city bus system once told me it would be cheaper to pay for a taxi every day for me than to run the bus past my house.
They cancelled my bus route, but while it was there it was incredibly easy on my wallet. Cost them $250,000 or something.
Does the municipal government have a bylaw that prevents taxi companies (or whoever) from running a mini-bus around, on-call, on flexible routes? That would probably cost a lot less than giving you a free taxi ride & less than driving around a huge, mostly empty transit bus. Heck, just letting ordinary cabs do multiple pick-ups and drop-offs for a set fee would cost a lot less than a single-passenger cab (which, you've said would cost less than the city was spending on subsidizing the bus service). If they do prevent these sorts of alternative services, you could ask them why they fear the competition.
You said it on the no debt part. We are there 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.