Has The Price Of Gas Changed Your Habits?

Rex:

I don't know economics from Adam, but it seems to me the H-cell manufacturers would be quite stupid to charge the same as gas, at least right off the bat. What incentive is there for people to change to the new technology and eat the cost of a new vehicle if there's no savings? Environmental altruism? It's a nice idea, but I doubt the people who made this their life's work will risk all that on the possibility consumers have Mother Earth foremost in their minds.

A wiser move might be to start lower, build momentum and allow the laws of supply and demand to drive up the price of the new technology. They can trumpet the fact they're helping clean up the atmosphere and still make a tidy profit ... win-win if you ask me.

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As far as the original subject -- my habits have changed, but it's probably as much to do with my new location as the rising cost of gas. I'm stuck on a rock in the middle of the Pacific, so even if I wanted to go driving about every day, there's really nowhere to go.

 

To answer the original question, yes, but only minimally.

The dry cleaner we use is three or four miles out of my way to work, and I'd use to go whenever the need arose; could be on Tuesday and then again on Thursday. Now it's once a week and I try to have a second reason for going out of my way.

The last stop before the front door to the office used to be a Dunkin' Donuts for a coffee. Now that $2 a day goes into the gas tank.

 

Great discussion. Jones and birdscribe are two of my favorite posters.

At first I felt I was on birdscribe's side, so to speak.

Then I starting thinking about what Jones was saying.

What moves people to vote out the rat bastards who aren't doing a damn thing about piss poor public transportation?

Possibly a dent in their wallet-- and not just a small dent-- a big and sustained dent.

When will (and we'll use a "birdscribe-type person" because we love birdscribe, a hardworking decent family guy by all accounts)... But when will a "birdscribe-type person" make the issue of public transportation the single most important issue that drives him at the voting booth? When will he become pretty much a single-issue voter?

At what point does a "birdscribe-type person" get mad/inspired enough to write his congressperson or go to a town hall meeting to express his outrage that nothing is getting done about the piss poor public transportation options in SoCal?

What tips the scale from 'this is bullshit' to 'fuck it, I've got to do something about this' for him and thousands others in his same shoes?

 

How about a simple measure of "enlightened self-interest," a phrase we're deconstructing on another thread? And no one has to become a single-issue voter to move the idea of mass transit forward. How about just voting 'yes' the next time a bond-issue for public transportation comes up on the ballot? Rather than reflexively voting 'no' because you think a tax is going to cost you money? How about doing the math and figuring out that while the tax to float the bonds is going to cost you $40 a year, the cost of not improving your transportation options is going to amount to thousands and thousands of dollars? How about not waiting for a crisis before you try to improve the quality of your own life?

 

When politicians with economic and lobbying ties to the oil industry aren't in office. Until then, THEY - the politicians - don't give two shits what or I want from or see wrong with public transit.

 

Pete - Who put those people in office?

 

jgmacg, you're a good man, and I admire your high opinion of others. If I'm being honest, though, I don't share it. I think the monorail episode of the Simpsons is a perfect summation of my view of modern democracy.

It's like this (and I'll use a Canadian example, just to show we make mistakes, too):

The Liberal government under Paul Martin had plans to bring in a universal daycare system -- you had children, you could put them in safe, cost-effective daycare programs at little or no charge.

Then the Conversvatives came into power. Of course, they scrapped the program, replacing it with a $100 a month check for every child -- $1,200 each year. They did that under the guise of choice: Why should the government mandate how your child is cared for? We'll give you the money so you can decide on your own.

Well, daycare costs way more than $100 a month. Plus, the credit is taxable. So that $1,200 turns into something like $800.

Anyway, today the Conversatives sent out a brochure saying that the Liberals want to take away "your child benefit -- your $100 a month, straight out of your pocket." That's true, but it's because the Liberals still want to implement their universal system. For a parent, that's probably worth between $5,000 and $10,000 per child. Good trade, right? $800 after tax, for $10,000 worth of free childcare? No brainer.

Except I just ran into a clutch of morons on my street, all up in arms about this brochure, how they want to keep getting that $100 each month. They can't see that by giving that up, they'd be getting much more in return. It's like they lack the part of the brain that governs foresight. And I'm afraid that's how far too many people think.

If that makes me a snob, an elitist, a dictator, I don't give a shit. The fact is, people make dumb decisions all the time. $40 for public transit? No way! I'd rather pay $2,000 in extra road maintenance costs! I believe more and more that the majority of people are selfish, uninterested in the future, and uncaring about the world around them. I feel sad about that, but lately I've taken a pretty dim view of humanity. Which is why I'm so hardline about things like the price of gas. I'm not putting my faith in people making the right decision out of the goodness of their hearts. Until it affects their bottom line, most of them couldn't give a crap.

 

I just put $40.00 in my Camry and it's barely 3/4 full.

We live in the largest city and metropolitan area in Canada. I know I joke about Toronto being The Centre of the Universe but from an economic point of view, we are.

At one point we had a public transit system (subway, streetcars, buses, electric trolleys) that was second only to New York's in North America.

Now, it's expensive with reduced service on a lot of routes. We just got back from Boston. Ours is second rate both in terms of service and technology.

Why?

We're the ONLY major city in North America with a public transit system that does NOT get any federal finding. It's almost entirely reliant on fares for revenue. It's like hockey. The only revenue stream are gate receipts.

So, until the federal politicians stop ignoring us and DOsomething to improve it I'll drive my twenty minutes to work instead of the hour and a quarter it takes on public transit.

And then, there's the whole subject of urban sprawl and what's the most cost-effective, environmentally friendly way to get all those people who live in 905 land(suburban Toronto) into the city? Neithter the provincial or federal government want to tackle this baby.

There's been talk of instituting tolls (like London, England) for people driving into the city centre during peak hours. Philosophically, I don't have a problem with that but you sure better have a carrot while you're beating the crap out of me with a stick

So, it becomes a transit issue and an urban design issue.

One thing is for certain. Post war suburbia has pretty much seen the end of its days.

 

I had two consecutive off days earlier this week and had a chance to go see my Dad, who was going to be closer than usual (5 hours' drive away instead of 12) because he and my stepmom had to go visit her mom. But I didn't have the heart to tell him that I couldn't afford to spend $150 on gas to make the trip.

On an "up" note, our shop just increased mileage to 40 cents per mile. I figure that's pretty high for this industry. What does everyone else's shop pay?

 

Jones's post on childcare reminded me why I never voted for the Conservatives. Yahoos, all of them.

 

What other choices are there? Ralph Nader?

Dems and Reps are equally at fault. Don't think for a second that the Dems aren't somehow, somewhere connected to the same things.

 

And furthermore, what is it about the price of gas that gets us so crazy?

(Is it that-- unlike a purchase at a mall-- we have to stand there filling up, literally watching penny by penny tally... and we having nothing else to think about while we stand there except how much it's costing? Somebody should look into the psychology of it.)

But your guy McCain knows what he's doing. He's offering up this gas tax vacation-- something that's got us Americans drooling-- something which Bill Maher so aptly put is the equivalent of $5 from Grampa.

An $800 check from the stimulus package meets with lukewarm response... But John McCain wants to save me 28 bucks in gas this summer! HIP HIP HOORAY!!!