Rolling squid wrote:greed and death wrote:Rolling squid wrote:About time. Maybe that will force some changes, force us to actually build a decent nation-wide public transport network, as well as reviving the inner city trains.
You forget this is the US we are talking about.
When faced with a 7 dollar a gallon tax, The solution will be violence not, wait for next election.
True. So implement a gradual tax, say fifty cents/gallon a year, and use the revenues to build a national high speed rail system. Provide categorical grants to cities so they can build city-suburb rail systems. The point is, we as a country need to be weaned off oil and onto public transportation, and the only way I can see that happening is through higher fuel costs.
It would require more than that. It would require a complete rebuilding of American communities. The American suburb is simply not designed to allow any mode of transport other than private automobiles. They are built with the assumption that everyone will drive everywhere. Any public transport system that could accommodate the majority of residents in these suburbs would be ridiculously expensive. In most American suburbs, there is simply no feasible way to go to work, go to the store, etc. if you do not have a car.
Even if you were to build rail systems from the suburbs to the cities, it would still leave many people with a commute that they must drive. For example, I live in the New York metro region. Public transit use is higher in this area than any other metropolitan area in the country. If you live in the suburbs and want to go to the city, public transport is a fantastic option. If you want to go anywhere OTHER than the city, you basically have to drive. "All roads lead to Rome." Or in this case, all public transport.
Eventually, the world WILL begin to run out of oil and Gasoline WILL go to $7 per gallon on market forces alone w/o any taxes at all. I hope that by then, we have begun to build fewer McMansions and more communities where you can actually shop and work near where you live. Market forces will eventually get us there, but I fear there will be a lot of pain along the way.
Fortunately, I am in the process right now of buying an apartment very close to where I work. Close enough that I can commute by bike without much difficulty. Unfortunately, not everyone has that luxury.