$3.49 at the Shell gas station in Kasich's hometown of Westerville. Hey John how's that kill the trains/cut transit/no choice but to drive thingy working? It didn't take long for the bankruptcy of this approach to show.

Here is an interesting chart (cant vouch for the accuracy) showing the trend in gas prices since the early 1970s, in "todays dollars". 

 

Current Gas Prices and Price History

 

...you can see how the prices were rising in the 00's, but this was stopped for a bit by the recession.  So once growth returns one can anticipate the trend to continue upward, independent of what is currently happening in the Middle East.

Calls Mount to Tap U.S. Oil Reserves

 

By JOHN M. BRODER and CLIFFORD KRAUSS

WASHINGTON — As oil prices have risen in recent weeks, calls have been growing in Congress for the Obama administration to consider tapping into the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve, which is now at its full capacity of 727 million barrels.

 

Senator Jeff Bingaman, the influential chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, this week added his voice to the chorus, urging President Obama to be prepared to consider a significant sale of oil from the reserve to stabilize prices and temper any disruption in supply.

 

“Between the lost production in Libya, the crude oil dislocation associated with additional Saudi production and the prospect of further turmoil in the region,” Mr. Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico, said in a floor statement late Wednesday, “we are now unquestionably facing a physical oil supply disruption that is at risk of getting worse before it gets better.”

 

He said that previous sales from the reserve had quickly brought domestic oil prices down and calmed edgy markets.

Read more at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/business/energy-environment/04oil.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha25

Front-page story in the Columbus Dispatch....the same paper that criticized spending $$$ on passenger rail and has rarely been supportive of increased funding for mass transit.....only a mention of how transit ridership is rising...

 

Mad money going to fill up gas tank

Friday, March 4, 2011  02:52 AM

By Dan Gearino

 

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Think twice about going to a restaurant or a movie, or even a coffee shop.

 

The money for those things is vanishing into the fuel tank, according to central Ohio drivers who are learning to deal with $3.50-per-gallon gasoline.

 

"There is no more pocket money for weekend adventures," said Steven Perkins 36, of Reynoldsburg.

 

Read more at: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2011/03/04/mad-money-going-to-fill-up-gas-tank.html?sid=101

That article prompted me to send out this to All Aboard Ohio members.....

 

While Americans complain about gas prices, they fail to make the connection that America's (and especially Ohio's) transportation policies have made it impossible for alternatives to driving to exist. The Interstate highway system has become the nation's only legal monopoly, and a government-owned one at that.

 

So the Dispatch article makes no mention:

 

+ of how already abysmal state funding is (42nd in the nation for state transit funding per trip, even though Ohio ranks 12th in transit use. SOURCE: ODOT);

+ that transit funding is being reduced further in the upcoming two-year ODOT budget. If Ohio's transit funding ranked as highly as its use, Ohio would spend $250 million per year in transit, not $20 million as proposed for FY2012 and FY2013;

+ that federal funding for transit may be illegal if Senate Bill 5 is passed as federal transit funding requires collective bargaining rights for transit employees;

+ that expanding transit funding immediately creates jobs and improves access to jobs while letting working families save money;

+ of Ohio completely eliminating passenger rail funding while less wealthy places like Morocco, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Iran, Brazil, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and others have High-Speed Rail or are moving forward on constructing it. Marketresearch.com estimates the accumulated market value of global HSR manufacturing sectors was $244 billion in 2005-2009 and will grow to $907 billion between 2010-2015.

 

You can help raise the awareness! Please write a short letter to your local newspapers (see tips at the bottom):

 

Columbus Dispatch

Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Columbus Dispatch, 34 S. 3rd St., Columbus, OH 43215

Fax: 614-461-8793

E-mail: [email protected]

 

Akron Beacon Journal

Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange Street, Akron, Ohio 44308

Fax: N/A

E-mail: [email protected]

 

Cincinnati Enquirer

Mail: Letters, Enquirer Editorial Page, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202

Fax: 513-768-8569

E-mail: [email protected]

 

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Plain Dealer, 1801 Superior Ave., Cleveland, OH 44114.

Fax: 216-999-6209

E-mail: http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/letter-to-editor/

 

Columbus Dispatch

Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Columbus Dispatch, 34 S. 3rd St., Columbus, OH 43215

Fax: 614-461-8793

E-mail: [email protected]

 

Dayton Daily News

Mail: Letters to the Editor, Dayton Daily News, 1611 S. Main St., Dayton, OH 45409

Fax: (937) 225-7302

E-mail: http://www.daytondailynews.com/opinion/65916.html

 

Hamilton Journal News

Mail: Letters to the editor, JournalNews, 228 Court St., Hamilton, Ohio 45011

Fax: N/A

E-mail: http://www.journal-news.com/opinion/65960.html

 

Mansfield News Journal

Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Mansfield News Journal, 70 W. Fourth St., Mansfield, OH 44903

Fax: N/A

E-mail: http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/section/CUSTOMERSERVICE03

 

Springfield News-Sun

Mail: Letters to the Editor, Springfield News-Sun, 202 N. Limestone St, Springfield, OH, 45503

Fax: N/A

E-mail: http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/opinion/65954.html

 

Sun Newspapers (Cleveland-area)

Mail: Letters to the Editor, Sun Newspapers, 5510 Cloverleaf Pkwy, Cleveland, OH 44125

Fax: 216-986-6071

E-mail: [email protected]

 

Toledo Blade

Mail:  Readers Forum, The Blade, 541 North Superior Street, P.O. Box 921, Toledo, OH 43697-0921

Fax: 419-724-6191

E-mail: [email protected]

 

Youngstown Vindicator

Mail:  Letters to the Editor, The Vindicator, 107 Vindicator Square. Youngstown, OH 44503

E-mail: [email protected]

 

 

Tips: Keep your letters to fewer than 200 words to improve the chances it will be published. Sign your printed/faxed letter, or use a script font to sign your e-mailed letter (do not attach it, copy and paste it into your e-mail!). Be sure to include your address, city, zip and a daytime phone number as the newspaper will want to confirm you wrote/sent the letter.

 

Thank you!

Consumers and businesses brace for effects of higher fuel prices

Published: Saturday, March 05, 2011, 6:00 AM    Updated: Saturday, March 05, 2011, 1:06 PM

By John Funk, The Plain Dealer

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Every mile that Ohio long-haul trucker Lewie Pugh drives costs him 70 cents just to pay for the diesel fuel.

 

And that was on Friday. The cost will have increased by today, propelled by roiling oil markets terrified that Middle East oil production could collapse if civil unrest spreads throughout the region.

 

It's money that eventually will come out of your pocket as the price of everything from groceries to steel reflect the unstoppable freight surcharges.

 

Prices for the best U.S. oil jumped to $104.42 per barrel on Friday and to $115.97 for the best European grades, which also influence U.S. fuel prices. Average gasoline prices were about $3.50 per gallon and diesel fuel about $3.85.

 

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/03/oil_prices_diesel_prices_gasol.html

"America's transportation policies have made it impossible for alternatives to driving to exist."

 

Oh come on, KJP. You don't have to drive if you don't want to.

 

Yes, it is more difficult to walk around in neighborhoods due to traffic. Some streets have been cut-off by construction of highways. But impossible? No. There are many places in America where it is possible to live quite comfortably without driving.

 

About 50% of Americans do not drive.

 

 

Oh come on, KJP. You don't have to drive if you don't want to.

 

 

OK smart ass. Then allow me to rephrase to meet your overly literal requirements....

 

It is impossible to be without a car in nearly all places in Ohio and still have the same quality of life as those who own cars. So, in short, in nearly all places in Ohio, you must own a car to enjoy a high quality of life. And those who can't afford cars have a much lower quality of life than they could if Ohio had a car-competitive transit system.

 

Naw, you can still have a high quaility of life without a car. There are basicly two options:

 

1. Live in a walkable neighborhood. Yes, there still are some of those. Take advantage of local transit and the occasional taxi ride if you have to.

2. Live in one place self-sufficiently. The small farm comes to mind, but it doesn't have to be a farm.

 

Both of these can be done in Ohio. You can save yourself the cost of care and feeding of a car.

 

The reason why big box stores locate along suburban highways is because it is economical for them to do so.

There is no reason why Wal*mart can't build a 5-story department store downtown, like the grand dames of the 1920's, except that that's not the way the customers want to shop. Most customers - especially the ones with money to spend - own cars, and have made the choice of living in the suburbs.

 

I will admit that O.D.O.T. could have done better in the detailing of the transporation infrastructure, but basicly, they gave the people what they wanted. Ohioans have no one but themselves to blame.

 

As for those who can't afford to own cars - well, I'm sorry, but as a group they just don't participate in Ohio's political system to the same degree as those who can afford to own cars.

 

 

I'll likely be experimenting with a car-free lifestyle for at least half a week in the coming school year. I'm not too concerned about getting back and forth to work- it's a mere 15 minute walk. I am concerned about getting food, as the predominant food stores are all on the fringe of my current place of residence in Bowling Green. What I'll mostly have to work through is convenience. I can get to Kroger and back via an irregular university bus service, but it will mean increased wait times and being limited to what I can carry, meaning I'll likely have to make more trips. Or limit food shopping to weekends.

 

I consider myself quite lucky to live (car-free) in a college town, but I'm not sure how viable it is living on a farm. It would be very difficult to see other people if you lived in the country, though of course may people did that before WWII. I lived without a car for about 5 years in Japan, but trains and buses were readily available, and a major grocery store was very close. The absence of major snow and ice events also eased any challenges with keeping my home stocked.

 

I think that Ohio could be a very good place to live without a car, with better intercity transit. As it is now, there is no way to get out of Bowling Green without a car, and even if one made it to Toledo, there is no central shopping area. The commercial districts in the Glass City are completely built around the private auto, and I suspect that outside of the Downtown-Short North-OSU line, and parts of Cleveland, the same can be said for the rest of Ohio. Higher gas prices may, under a future administration, catalyze investment in local and regional transport. But as it stands, I would not want to have to live without a car full-time. We'll see...

 

 

Naw, you can still have a high quaility of life without a car. There are basicly two options:

 

 

I see you've never tried either option.

 

 

 

As for those who can't afford to own cars - well, I'm sorry, but as a group they just don't participate in Ohio's political system to the same degree as those who can afford to own cars.

 

 

And I see you don't fall into the category of a compassionate conservative (OK, I know that's an oxymoron these days). And again, I see you don't speak from experience and your message tells me you couldn't care less what pains our citizens are experiencing. But that's par for the course among all too many conservatives these days. I think we could freeze-dry a tropical swamp on your heart.

Eighth, man, I gotta say you are way off.  Even if you're lucky enough to live by reliable  public transportation that takes you everywhere, you don't see how insane gas prices eat up your discretionary income since they affect the price on everything?  It won't matter if you're carfree - utilities and food are still rocketing due in great part to oil going up.  It affects everyone and everything 

  KJP: "I see you've never tried either option."

 

  I have tried both options, and lived well doing each. The drawback is that I had to sacrifice the opportunities in the suburbs - shopping, entertainment, etc.

 

    "You couldn't care less what pains our citizens are experiencing."

 

    I think you misinterpreted my post. I'm not saying how I wish things were, I am saying how they are. The poor, disabled, etc., are under-represented in the political systems of this country, because they do not participate. That mean, in general, they do not vote, do not show up to town meetings, and do not participate in election campaigns to the same degree that people who own cars do.

 

    Suppose you are a politician, and there are 10,000 people in your district. You ask for comments on how you can make things better. You get 100 letters. 30 of them complain about traffic and ask to widen the road. 30 of them complain about crime and ask for more police. 30 of them complain of lack of parks and ask for more parks. 10 of them complain about all other things combined. (This is the actual result of a survey in my community.)  What do you do as a politician? You widen the road, hire some more police, and build another park.

 

    The people who own cars in this country have more political clout than those who do not. I'm not saying that's the way it should be. That's the way it is. As a result, the state has allocated more resources to highways than to public transportation.

 

  TBideon: "It affects everyone and everything."

 

    I agree with you, man, and I think we have only seen the tip of the iceberg.

 

OK, answer these questions for me:

 

> From your home and without using a car, can you reach any of the 75 percent of the available jobs in your metro area in less than 45 minutes and for less than $10 round trip?

 

> After you get home from work and have dinner, a friend calls and says his wife is hours away from having their second baby. They need to get to the hospital and want you to babysit his first kid. They live 10 miles away and they don't have a car either. Can you get to their house in 30 minutes without a car and without spending more than $5 round trip?

 

> Tomorrow morning at dawn, can you leave your city and meet the aide of your state legislator in his/her office in Riffe Tower in Columbus by 10 a.m. without ever using a car and without spending more than $40 round trip?

 

> The legislative aide tells you, in order to save the free world, that you must meet personally with his boss the next day for lunch. But he's in Chicago. You aren't packed for a hotel stay and you want to look professional, smell good and be well-read/prepared for the legislator. So you head back home, arriving there that evening, get a nice sleep and a morning shower. Can you get to Chicago by noon and be back home the same day without a car, and without spending more than $125 total round trip?

 

OK, now try all of the above as a physically disabled person. Of course (and to bring this back to the subject at hand), with rising fuel prices and/or reduced petroleum supplies, we all become physically disabled.

I live in a very high walkscore area and have a good quality of life with fresh food (some of it local) and also have land outside of the city that I am considering throwing up a quick and dirty vegetable patch on. If I could somehow convince my landlord to let me farm on the roof here, that would be ideal. As far as anyone can be 'immune' to fuel price increases, I am. I don't need a car to commute, I have access to subsidized mass transit, we try to eat local...but inevitably, the shockwaves will hit us.

 

I don't buy that we're on the verge of an apocalypse in terms of fuel prices, but things are going to change. Either we start generating a tremendous amount of energy to pump into electric vehicles, or we start driving less. One of these is easier than the other, and something's gotta give. We'll run out of Lithium before we build enough personal EVs to move everyone.

 

I grew up in the suburbs and they're fine and all, but they're so inefficient. They can survive just fine if other modes of transport afford similar access, but right now, what are those other modes? Public transit, mind-bogglingly, doesn't have the political support it needs. Trains can't reach everywhere; they need feeder buses. Cheap electricity for the Leafs and Volts of the world is a dream. Energy is actually still getting far more plentiful, but the demand is surging so fast that the benefits of all this wonderful new tech are unevenly distributed.

 

The only way to correct that in our political system is relentless activism and refusal to let our neighbors passively vote the rest of us into oblivion and leave us unprepared for the future. I'd love to see a 'free market' solution to this, but I think the efficient solution is to have a robust enough public transit system that price shocks don't crush people who aren't expecting them. For now, people are just going to complain that we aren't drilling enough oil wells or not tapping the oil reserves, or whatever...

8th and State has a point.  We all want to blubber about crude but the state of Ohio elected John Kasich, a famed corporate crony, in the midst of the highest oil prices ever.  If we don't get it now, and didn't get it in 1950 when hundreds of miles of streetcar navigated through the cities of Ohio, right in our face, seemingly boasting to us how valuable they were, will we ever get it?

 

Kasich's first order of business?  Dismantle the High-speed Corridor project.  Ohio and Cincinnati specifically were spectators to the expressway movement in the 50's and 60's.  Someone thought it was a good idea to increase the net worth of the region by eroding the reason the region exists as an urban center in the first place - the city of Cincinnati, and millions agreed with them.

 

I love Ohio, but the shortsightedness, selfishness, and miscalculated political identity have more to do with Ohio being in the tank than crude prices.

 

Conservatives in Cincinnati believe they are doing the public a favor by fighting rail transit.  OTR is the land of the lost.  It's no one's job to find those people.  Let them kill themselves off and then reappropriate the land.  Let the buildings fall, because it is too expensive to invest in them, far more expensive than bonding a 700 foot office tower.  Avoid the area altogether.  It has no value in today's metrics of living.

 

Liberals in Cleveland believe they are doing the public a favor by voting Democrat.  Enabling unions is at the crux of the Detroit freefall, and Cleveland isn't far behind in that regard.  Holding on to the belief that "voting for what most would agree is the party that represents ground-level change makes you a better person" has opened the door for politicians who have watched Cleveland lose job after low paying job, the schools stay the same as they were in the 70s, the city stay segregated as it was 40 years ago, and the city infastructure deteriorate into a place many deem inhabitable, hence the loss of population in the metro area.  But voting Dem makes the people feel good about themselves.  They feel like they are helping people, not attacking people like those conservatives that voted for a Republican governor in 2010 because the African-American president made the entire party look incompetent and wasteful.  Wait - Ted Strickland received 133,000 fewer votes in Cuyahoga County in 2010 than he did in 2006.

 

Ohioans need to vote for Ohio, not themselves.

Transit News

APTA News Release

3/4/2011

Contact:

Mantill Williams

(202) 496-4869

[email protected]

 

http://www.apta.com/mediacenter/pressreleases/2011/Pages/110304_TransitSavings.aspx

 

Rapidly Rising Gas Prices Give Public Transit Riders Highest Savings in Two Years

 

 

Washington, DC- Gas prices have increased 28 cents a gallon in the last 10 days and are expected to continue rising. As a result, riding public transportation saves individuals, on average, $9,904 annually and $825 per month based on the March 4, 2011 average national gas price ($3.47 per gallon-reported by AAA) and the national unreserved monthly parking rate.  This is the highest savings for public transit riders in two years. 

 

“As gas prices rise, using public transportation is the quickest way people can beat high gasoline prices,” states William Millar, president American Public Transportation Association (APTA). 

 

As uncertainty in other parts of the world persists, and Americans continue to suffer economic woes, making the change to public transit today gives individuals the opportunity to lower their transportation costs, without sacrificing their freedom and mobility. Switching from driving to riding public transportation for even a few of their trips is a proven way for individuals to cut monthly and yearly transportation costs. 

 

APTA releases this monthly “Transit Savings Report” to examine how an individual in a two-person household can save money by taking public transportation and living with one less car.

 

The national average for a monthly unreserved parking space in a downtown business district is $161.56, according to the 2010 Colliers International Parking Rate Study.  Over the course of a year, parking costs for a vehicle can amount to an average of $1,939.

 

The top 20 cities with the highest transit ridership are ranked in order of their transit savings based on the purchase of a monthly public transit pass and factoring in local gas prices for March 4, 2011 and the local monthly unreserved parking rate.*

 

Top Twenty Cities – Transit Savings Report    City  Monthly Savings  Annual Savings

1  New York  $1,198  $14,376

2  Boston  $1,099  $13,188

3  San Francisco  $1,088  $13,055

4  Chicago  $991  $11,889

5  Seattle  $973  $11,682

6  Philadelphia  $957  $11,487

7  Honolulu  $932  $11,181

8  Los Angeles  $894  $10,725

9  Minneapolis  $876  $10,510

10  San Diego  $866  $10,396

11  Portland  $848  $10,170

12  Denver  $844  $10,125

13  Cleveland  $833  $9,996

14  Baltimore  $829  $9,953

15  Washington, DC  $829  $9,944

16  Miami  $815  $9,781

17  Pittsburgh $780  $9,364

18  Dallas  $776  $9,311

19  Atlanta $ 771  $9,258

20  Las Vegas  $764  $9,164

 

 

 

*Based on gasoline prices as reported by AAA on 3/4/11.

 

Methodology

APTA calculates the average cost of taking public transit by determining the average monthly transit pass of local public transit agencies across the country.  This information is based on the annual APTA fare collection survey and is weighted based on ridership (unlinked passenger trips).  The assumption is that a person making a switch to public transportation would likely purchase an unlimited pass on the local transit agency, typically available on a monthly basis.

 

APTA then compares the average monthly transit fare to the average cost of driving.  The cost of driving is calculated using the 2011 AAA average cost of driving formula.  AAA cost of driving formula is based on variable costs and fixed costs.  The variable costs include the cost of gas, maintenance and tires.  The fixed costs include insurance, license registration, depreciation and finance charges.  The comparison also uses the average mileage of a mid-size auto at 23.4 miles per gallon and the price for self-serve regular unleaded gasoline as recorded by AAA on March 4, 2011 at $3.47 per gallon.  The analysis also assumes that a person will drive an average of 15,000 miles per year.  The savings assume a person in two-person household lives with one less car.

 

In determining the cost of parking, APTA uses the data from the 2010 Colliers International Parking Rate Study for monthly unreserved parking rates for the United States.

 

To calculate your individual savings with or without car ownership, go to www.publictransportation.org. 

 

 

Higher fuel prices serve the short-term interests of one good-sized, vocal subset of conservatives: the "drill, baby, drill" faction.  As several recent news reports (particularly in industry press, and even here and there in the popular press) have noted, many oil companies are actually putting forth more guarded estimates of how much of a reprieve (in terms of both magnitude and time) we could buy with increased domestic exploration.  The zeal of the drilling advocates in the political sphere is some distance ahead of what the facts would warrant, but they're hardly the only political faction out there with unrealistic expectations about how much better the world would be if everyone just did whatever the particular faction wanted.

 

Naw, you can still have a high quaility of life without a car. There are basicly two options:

 

1. Live in a walkable neighborhood. Yes, there still are some of those. Take advantage of local transit and the occasional taxi ride if you have to.

2. Live in one place self-sufficiently. The small farm comes to mind, but it doesn't have to be a farm.

 

Both of these can be done in Ohio. You can save yourself the cost of care and feeding of a car.

 

The first of those options is legitimate.

 

Regarding the second, I'm not so convinced.  Indeed, the overwhelming majority of the small- and medium-scale farmers that I knew in Kirkersville and the surrounding townships owned pickup trucks or other large vehicles (but usually pickups), and those were not the genteel, overcompensatory pickups you sometimes see parked in suburban garages.  Those things got real use.  A lot of it.  I don't think that their owners could have done anywhere near the same work with just wheelbarrows and other people-powered hauling options.

Naw, you can still have a high quaility of life without a car.

 

Wrong.

 

Cars offer some things that all other forms of transportation dont:

 

1.  Enclosure:  Cars are enclosed so you are protected from wind, rain, snow, and cold.  They are more comfortable than all other forms, which require some exposure to the elements.

 

2. Convenience:  You can use them without being forced to follow a schedule.  Yes, one can do this on foot or with a bicycle, but that brings up the third benefit:

 

3. Time and Space Compression:  You can get further, faster, with a car.

 

These three combined do provide a better quality-of-life for car owners and users.  There are situations where these benefits would be cancelled by issues of congestion, but these are limited, and usually found in places that are really dense, like NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, etc.

 

Though I am experimenting with going "Car-Lite", its not really possible to do all I want to do without a car...things like performing arts events downtown at night (either downtown Dayton or downtown Cincinnati), travel, hiking at forest preserves that are at some distance from my house, etc.

 

I get a little annoyed at some of these attempts to minimize the benefits of cars.  They are the best form of transportation and the problem with them is how they are powered, a technological issue.  Aside from that they do improve the quality of life of people who use them and can afford them.

 

 

Rapidly Rising Gas Prices Give Public Transit Riders Highest Savings in Two Years

 

I figure I save $150/month for commuting costs by taking the bus. That article is sort of biased in favor of transit.

What are you including in your calculations?

Naw, you can still have a high quaility of life without a car.

 

Wrong.

 

Cars offer some things that all other forms of transportation dont:

 

1.  Enclosure:  Cars are enclosed so you are protected from wind, rain, snow, and cold.  They are more comfortable than all other forms, which require some exposure to the elements.

 

2. Convenience:  You can use them without being forced to follow a schedule.  Yes, one can do this on foot or with a bicycle, but that brings up the third benefit:

 

3. Time and Space Compression:  You can get further, faster, with a car.

 

Well put, especially 2 and 3.

 

These three combined do provide a better quality-of-life for car owners and users.  There are situations where these benefits would be cancelled by issues of congestion, but these are limited, and usually found in places that are really dense, like NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, etc.

 

Though I am experimenting with going "Car-Lite", its not really possible to do all I want to do without a car...things like performing arts events downtown at night (either downtown Dayton or downtown Cincinnati), travel, hiking at forest preserves that are at some distance from my house, etc.

 

I get a little annoyed at some of these attempts to minimize the benefits of cars.  They are the best form of transportation and the problem with them is how they are powered, a technological issue.  Aside from that they do improve the quality of life of people who use them and can afford them.

 

I agree with this to a large extent.  The related question, however, is how we pay for the infrastructure required to drive them and park them.  To the extent that motorists are not covering the costs of this infrastructure, they're getting at least partially a free ride at taxpayer expense.  (Of course, most of them are also taxpayers, but there are still some who go without cars.)  Having a car does increase one's quality of life, but we make that increase even bigger via the various indirect taxpayer subsidies of car ownership.

Naw, you can still have a high quaility of life without a car.

 

They are the best form of transportation and the problem with them is how they are powered, a technological issue.  Aside from that they do improve the quality of life of people who use them and can afford them.

 

 

 

Agreed.  I do feel sprawl and cars go hand in hand, but awful public schools and social bigotry also are major factors in suburban development/expansion.

Awful schools - yes.

Social bigotry - say what?

The schools issue is definitely one of the reason that people are willing to move out to the burbs even knowing the bigger bite that gas prices will take out of their household budgets out there.  There are definitely people who would pay $10/gal. to commute in from Fairlawn or Green rather than send their kid to Akron Public.

Many people fled to the suburbs to avoid contact with African-Americans and other groups they don't understand. Interstate highways allowed them to do that and still be within 20- or 30-minute drive of city assets they wanted to continue to use (employment centers, spectator sports, the arts, etc).

 

And many urban schools weren't awful in the 1970s. For example, Cleveland's still had a very good record of performance back then. But suburban schools produced better results.

 

OK, so now that we've got that out of the way, let's get this subject moving back toward the actual topic of discussion.

Oh, we settled that back on page 3.

 

And stuff.

OK..... as a modeator, I'm going to step in and say let's get back on point about gasoline prices.  If you want to keep up the debate above, do by private message..... social policy and schools is starting to get well off topic.

Many people fled to the suburbs to avoid contact with African-Americans and other groups they don't understand. Interstate highways allowed them to do that and still be within 20- or 30-minute drive of city assets they wanted to continue to use (employment centers, spectator sports, the arts, etc).

 

And many urban schools weren't awful in the 1970s. For example, Cleveland's still had a very good record of performance back then. But suburban schools produced better results.

 

OK, so now that we've got that out of the way, let's get this subject moving back toward the actual topic of discussion.

 

TBideon, KJP just answered your question about social bigotry.

 

KJP, public schools in the 70's were not educating minorities at the level that whites were being educated.  Segregation, facilities, staffing, busing, etc I would say that's not a great thing to have on your record.  Actually I'm not sure how public schools are any different today.

 

As long as people have unrealistic fears about different social groups, and the social status of that minority doesn't elevate locally, people will always be willing to break their neck filling up the tank to avoid perceived realities.

OK..... as a modeator, I'm going to step in and say let's get back on point about gasoline prices.  If you want to keep up the debate above, do by private message..... social policy and schools is starting to get well off topic.

 

Agreed!  There's enough out there to keep us on-heading. 

 

I see gas is now around$ 3.44,  though I paid 3.46 this weekend out at the Speedway @ Social Row & Yankee.  That was the highest I've paid before going back on the bus.

 

Sharply rising oil prices having widespread effects in U.S.

 

Chicago Tribune reports...for Chicago....

 

Yiannis Melidis, co-owner of Pegasus Restaurant & Taverna, at 130 S. Halsted St. in Chicago, said fuel surcharges on such services as seafood delivery and garbage pickup have boosted the cost of running his business by 3 to 4 percent. Pegasus is absorbing those costs, but to keep profit margins from shrinking it has been cutting employees' hours. A waiter who had worked 32 to 36 hours a week, for example, now works 28 to 30 hours a week.

 

..but also quotes an expert who thinks prices will settle out  (nationally) at $3.50/gallon if things settle down in the Mideast.  So it will probably be lower in Ohio?  Seems prices here are lower than what was reported in that article for Chicago, and they are lower than what I recall in New England when I was there this past Fall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So to Speak

Oil habit causing pain at the pump

Tuesday, March 8, 2011  02:55 AM

Joe Blundo

The Columbus Dispatch

 

When I filled my car with gas the other day, the total came to $47.

 

A few weeks ago, it would have been more like $43.

 

I'm attributing the extra $4 to what I call the Moammar Gadhafi tax.

 

The Gadhafi tax is the price we pay for buying oil from the wacky dictators and out-of-touch royalty of the Middle East.

 

Full column at: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2011/03/08/oil-habit-causing-pain-at-the-pump.html?sid=101

Why folks are willing to pay for insanely priced petroleum is just as valid as the prices themselves.  Tunnel vision isn't healthy.

Why folks are willing to pay for insanely priced petroleum is just as valid as the prices themselves.  Tunnel vision isn't healthy.

 

Who says these prices are insane?  And do people really have a choice to not pay for petroleum?  Our economy runs on oil.  If the price of oil goes up then so do consumer prices on damn near everything.  Are there ANY "petroleum free" products or industries?

Why folks are willing to pay for insanely priced petroleum is just as valid as the prices themselves.  Tunnel vision isn't healthy.

 

Who says these prices are insane?  And do people really have a choice to not pay for petroleum?  Our economy runs on oil.  If the price of oil goes up then so do consumer prices on damn near everything.  Are there ANY "petroleum free" products or industries?

 

The global war over oil has forced prices to a ridiculous level.  Isn't that at the crux of the oil conversation?  It's high because nations want to control their own destinies concerning their availability and access to oil in the future.  People don't care about Libya.  But with the civil war going on, their sweet oil is at stake. 

^Yeah, get used to it.  With India, China, and Brazil growing and consuming more and more oil by the day the demand is not going to go down on a global scale.  Oil is, for obvious reasons, an incredibly valuable natural resource and everyone wants it.  And when everyone wants any single commodity, that commodity becomes extremely valuable... especially when the supply starts to run out.

 

And again, I don't think the current oil prices are ridiculous.  Neither are our gas prices... which are shockingly low compared to the rest of the net-importers.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/gas-prices-around-the-world/19543148/

^Yeah, get used to it.  With India, China, and Brazil growing and consuming more and more oil by the day the demand is not going to go down on a global scale.  Oil is, for obvious reasons, an incredibly valuable natural resource and everyone wants it.  And when everyone wants any single commodity, that commodity becomes extremely valuable... especially when the supply starts to run out.

 

And again, I don't think the current oil prices are ridiculous.  Neither are our gas prices... which are shockingly low compared to the rest of the net-importers.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/gas-prices-around-the-world/19543148/

 

Get used to it?  People are killed over oil, you have to be kidding.

^I'm not sure what you're arguing here.  Are you saying the uprising in Libya is because of oil?  It's not.  Are you saying we need to eliminate wars over natural resources?  Good luck.

 

Are you claiming that some "global war" over oil has caused an unnatural spike in oil prices?  Price war or ground war?  I believe that there are natural market forces driving the cost of oil... basic supply and demand with a sprinkle of speculation and fear.

 

And yes, get used to it.  The fight for oil is going to be ugly in the coming years and will probably lead to conflict.  We can do things to lesson our dependence on oil, but that does little to lesson it's value.  It's an insanely valuable resource and will be until the last drop.  There's nothing we can do about that.

 

Get used to it?  People are killed over oil, you have to be kidding.

 

What's your solution?

All of the above geo-political arguments aside.... I think what most people care about is reflected in the words of the couple profiled in this story..... the fact that they are trapped by a transportation system that favors driving above all else.

 

With 152-Mile Daily Commute, Couple Feels Pain At Pump

Tuesday,  March 8, 2011 6:47 AM

ONN

 

DUBLIN, Ohio — By now, just about everyone is feeling the pain at the pump.

 

With gas prices on the rise, budgets are stretched thin, especially for one Ohio couple that makes travelling part of their daily routine.

 

"When we first moved here, we were fortunate prices were relatively low," said Matt Kish. "We've been feeling the increase lately."

 

Kish and Ione Damasco have been married for almost 10 years

Read more at: http://www.onntv.com/live/content/onnnews/stories/2011/03/08/story-Rising_Gas_Prices.html?sid=102

Human history is littered with wars over resources, especially natural ones. Many people don't realize or remember this, but Japan attacked America in 1941 over oil -- we had it, they didn't, and we wouldn't let them have it. Germany attacked the Soviet Union over oil -- namely access to the huge oilfields at Ploiesti, Romania, and Germany invaded North Africa to get access to its oil‎.

 

After their destruction in World War II, Japan and Europe were the first developed places in the world to modernize their rail systems (initially with America's Marshall Plan money!) because they realize they could not access enough oil to motorize their nation as America did. But America's vast oil resources aren't able to fuel its economy anymore, either. America's domestic oil production has been declining since 1970 and its access to now-diminishing global oil resources has much greater competition from China, India and the OPEC nations themselves.

 

When everyone wants the same stuff and that stuff is not as easy to find, reach, produce and refine as it once was, the price will go up -- as will the conflicts surrounding it. I hope humans have advanced over the millennia, but World War II, the first Iraq war, the second Iraq war and other conflicts are recent examples that we have not. But our weapons certainly have advanced!

Re: noozer's article: I have cold advice for the two librarians in that article.  Move to Dayton.  They are fortunate that both people in that couple have jobs in the same metro.  They've made a choice to suffer the consequences of that commute.  It gets much harder when one person has a job in Dayton and another has a job in Zanesville.  Yes, I am aware that Dayton doesn't have quite the social scene that Columbus has, but no one is entitled to live in Columbus--and, of course, if more culturally literate, interested professionals moved into the Dayton area, they would probably find that a little bit of that scene did come to Dayton to cater to those interests.

 

I work in Akron.  Ergo, I live in Akron.  I am well aware that there is more to do in Cleveland, but I made a different choice: I value a short (read: walking) commute to work that insulates me from gas prices and other transportation costs and makes driving a nearly completely discretionary luxury rather than a daily necessity.  There are civic groups like the Downtown Akron Partnership and Torchbearers trying to make Akron a more vibrant, livable, sustainable community for young professionals; I got involved with those as best I've been able to so far.  Ultimately, I intend to have the best of both worlds.  In the interim, though, I'm not going to expose myself to the ravages of gas prices just to have a Cleveland address.  If that couple lived in Dayton, they could not only easily make trips to Columbus on the weekends--they could make such trips to Cincinnati and enjoy all that city has to offer, too.  And, of course, they could work to make Dayton a better place, and they sound like the kind of people that that city could use.

 

**********

 

Re: Rising fuel/oil prices as drivers of military conflict:

 

Yes, wars have been fought over access to oil in the past.  Wars have also been fought for access to most other critical resources of whatever historical period one considers.  Arable land.  Coastline.  Minerals (not just concentrated prehistoric vegetables).  Slaves.  Wood, ore, sheep, wheat, and brick.

 

Even if we fully electrified our transportation sector, all the way to our ships and airplanes, we would not insulate ourselves from those pressures.  We still rely on petroleum for other purposes.  In fact, even if we found a way to synthesize petroleum from biomass economically, we would not insulate ourselves from those pressures; we would simply strengthen our own position in the game, not gain a ticket to leave the game.  On top of that, even if we could somehow wave a magic wand and defuse every single oil-based political tension with the potential to erupt into armed conflict, all that would mean is that people would simply move on to the next vital resource.  The vital resource may change.  The fact that people will be willing to fight to control it will not.

Two nice little facts: two-thirds of America's oil appetite is now satisfied by imports; two-third of America's oil appetite is transportation (and 85 percent of that is consumed in cars and light trucks). The two-thirds for each just happen to equal each other for the first time in America's history. They won't be the same for long. The imported oil figure is rising faster than the portion of oil consumed for transportation. But transportation is driving America's growth in oil consumption. Cars are a lot more efficient than they used to be, but we are driving a lot more of them and we're driving them a lot farther -- or at least that was the case for the 60 years after World War II.

That's actually a familiar economic phenomenon, and I actually expect that that will further increase as fuel economy increases, though of course it will be partially offset by rising gas prices.

 

If the average car on the road got 10 MPG, people would drive a lot less, and would buy fewer cars.  They couldn't afford to drive more.  Even for those who could, filling up all the time would be a hassle.

 

If the average car on the road got 500 MPG, people would drive a lot more, and would buy more cars.  Vacations and other non-essential driving would suddenly seem a lot more economically feasible (and, of course, would weigh easier on the consciences of many concerned about fuel economy).

 

In short, when products are better, people buy more of them and use them more frequently.

 

  ^Hence more fuel-efficient automobiles do NOT reduce reduce oil consumption!

 

    Suppose a politician says, "The average car get 20 mpg, and we consume 20 million barrels of oil per day. Increasing the average fuel efficiency to 40 mpg will save 10 million barrels of oil per day."

 

    This is false. Increasing average fuel efficienty to 40 mpg will STILL result in consumtion of 20 million barrels of oil per day, if not more, other things being equal. The difference is that people will drive more miles.

 

   

Now ponder all those scenarios in the context of 1. gas tax revenues and our ability to maintain/expand transportation system capacity; 2. the availability of petroleum and/or substitutes.

 

All those scenarios crash into completely new barriers of their own making.

Re: noozer's article: I have cold advice for the two librarians in that article.  Move to Dayton.  They are fortunate that both people in that couple have jobs in the same metro.  They've made a choice to suffer the consequences of that commute.  It gets much harder when one person has a job in Dayton and another has a job in Zanesville.  Yes, I am aware that Dayton doesn't have quite the social scene that Columbus has, but no one is entitled to live in Columbus--and, of course, if more culturally literate, interested professionals moved into the Dayton area, they would probably find that a little bit of that scene did come to Dayton to cater to those interests.

 

 

Your comment made me go read that article, and while no direct Dayton-bashing it makes me wonder a bit about if there is a lot of this going on.  That Dayton life sucks so bad people choose to commute from Columbus or Cincinnati to work in the Dayton area.   

 

Yes Dayton does truely suck if you are a "pwogessive" and/or a  pseudo-bohemian urban hipster (like I used to be...too old for that gig now), but does it suck so bad to suffer such a long commute, which would be a bear even without high gas prices?   

 

Not for me. I was seriously considering doing this, though, after about a year living in this dreary burg.  I was thinking about moving to the Clifton/Correyville area of Cincy (around Bellvue Park), or one of those then-new lofts on 4th in Downtown Cincy, or off Piatt Park,  and driving in.  It took just one test drive down I-75 to my target areas during rush-hour to disabuse myself of that notion!

 

Though I do know of at least one or two people who had work in Dayton and commuted from the Northside and Clifton up to jobs in Dayton.  This was more becuase they were native Cincinnatians, and I figure they already had houses and family in the area. 

 

I think there is this also a subset of what I call "country commuters", people who live on farms or in farm towns and commute in to the Dayton area for work.  Some of this is becuase these folks have family connections to their respective rural communities (something you saw a lot of in Louisville, too), but also because of this cultural bias toward "country living"...where people will live in a somewhat rural area, but dont really farm, just to be out in the fields.  Something that never struck me as "worth it" (in terms of time, isolation, etc), but that is a preference here in the Dayton area, "...farm livin' is the life for me...."

 

 

I work in Akron.  Ergo, I live in Akron.  I am well aware that there is more to do in Cleveland, but I made a different choice: I value a short (read: walking) commute to work that insulates me from gas prices and other transportation costs and makes driving a nearly completely discretionary luxury rather than a daily necessity. 

 

While I don't walk to work the advantage to living in a more built-up area with tolerable bus service and a some walkable amenities (as I am finding out)  trumps exurbia for me.

 

Some of the advice my dad ever gave me:  "Live close to a bus line"

The article headline tells us what to expect:

 

High Gas Prices Not Affecting Food Prices..Yet

 

....but believe it or not, right now, gas prices don't have a lot to do with the rising food costs.  It's mainly the demand for commodities like wheat and corn driving up prices.  According to the Alabama Grocers Association, food retailers are often very hesitant to pass higher energy prices on to you.

 

"But some retailers may consider raising prices to remain competitive," says president Ellie Taylor.

 

No one knows exactly when that will happen, but the USDA expects food prices to go up between three and four-percent this year.

 

The article is more interesting in that it says people are cutting back on certain food purchases to afford gas.  Purchases on things that are "good for you" like fruit & vegtables.  Go figure. 

 

 

Bus lines are useful for some.  Unfortunately, they would be little or no use to me.  I never know at the start of any given day when I'll be able to leave.  I might be leaving the office at 7:00, or 9:00, or 11:00, or after midnight when the buses have stopped running--I'd have to call a cab if I lived outside of walking distance in that instance.  Even during the day, the Akron buses are also unreliable, and the routes are difficult to understand.  I have given the Akron Metro two chances over the past year for quick jaunts up Main Street in Akron--a simple trip along a well-traveled stretch.  Both times were disasters.  Once, I arrived late to a court function (just a brown bag lunch--I wasn't going to risk showing up late to a hearing, obviously).  I was also in a foul temper when I got there because I cooled my heels at the bus stop for upwards of 20 minutes waiting for the bus to arrive (which is supposed to come more frequently than that).  The second time, I was late getting back to the office from a lunch up near the federal courthouse; two people had asked in the interim where I was.  It would have been just as fast or faster to have walked the mile or so back to the office, and again, I'd have been in a better temper when I arrived, since I find a good walk to be much more relaxing than sitting and fidgeting and tapping my heels at a bus station.

 

I would love nothing better than to be a booster for the bus system.  My goal was to be able to tell others in the office that I gave it a chance, had a good experience, and that we could all save the hassle of trying to find parking near the courthouse if we just take the buses that, on paper, go right by our office building and to the courthouse.  I gave it a fair chance.  I can't afford to give it any more chances until I get some evidence that they've changed.  In particular, that means a reliable way to check on my Blackberry where any given bus is at any given time, with an accurate estimate of the time before that bus arrives at the stop by my office.  They've made some improvements to their Web site (including a Google Maps interface replacing the old route map, which was a step in the right direction), but I nevertheless can't reliably plan trips to get me where I need to be when I need to be there.

Rising Gas Cost Finds the Nation Better Prepared

By JAD MOUAWAD and NICK BUNKLEY

The New York Times

 

The increase in energy prices is beginning to resemble the rise in 2008. But this time, the American economy may be better prepared for higher fuel costs.

 

Gasoline prices have risen by nearly a third in the last year, and oil costs more than $100 a barrel for the first time in more than two years, driven by fears of extended Middle East supply disruptions and increased demand from an improving global economy.

 

While the latest surge in energy prices is likely to cause some pain and slow the recovery from the recession, economists say the spike is unlikely to derail the rebound unless prices rise a lot further.

Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/business/economy/09gasoline.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&adxnnl=1&emc=tha2&adxnnlx=1299679330-e0QIwu9ELOk1Vsx6zva2hA

Cook County employers prodded to offer transit benefit

Firms offered $1,700 under federal program

By Jon Hilkevitch, TRIBUNE REPORTER

12:00 a.m. CST, March 9, 2011

 

If soaring gasoline prices don't spur more Chicago-area businesses to participate in a program that lets their employees cut commuting costs when riding buses and trains, a new incentive will be offered in Cook County starting Wednesday that could help.

 

Companies in the county will be eligible to receive up to $1,700 if they sign up to give their workers the option to pay transit fares using pretax income, which can lower the amount of taxable income by hundreds of dollars per year, depending on tax brackets. The program, in turn, also reduces companies' payroll taxes.

 

Fares on the CTA, Metra, Pace, South Shore Line and some Amtrak routes are eligible for the pre-tax purchase, officials said.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-transit-tax-benefit-0309-20110308,0,4958804.story

Of course, mandating gas mileage is stupid. If you want to change the way people act, you are better off using the price mechanism (raise the friggin' gas taxes and if you wanted to reduce the impact of spikes you could have the gas tax shrink if the price per gallon rises above 6 dollars a gallon or some such).