Planes, Trains, Automobiles and $5 gas

I’ve been listening to people complain about how high gas prices are since I got my license, back before gas was $2 a gallon. I’m sure I just dated myself there. In any case, as the cost-per-barrel and the average price for a gallon of gas continuously shatter every previously set record, some times when they have only been a record for a day, it is difficult to ignore the topic. I really do feel bad for the poorer people who live in areas without public transportation and are now seeing 15-20% of their income going to gas. No one should have to decide between buying food or buying gas in order to get to work in the morning. But I don’t feel that gas is going to get cheaper in the long run, so the only real solution for people like these is for them to find some way to change their ways… and I’m not saying that as if it is an easy thing to do.

Even now, with premium in So Cal up to 5 dollars a gallon, Americans can still be releaved to know that in Europe they are paying nearly double what we are. Yes, most of this aditional cost is a direct result of socialism and is in the form of taxes, but those extra costs aside, they are still paying, 8, 9, or 10 dollars for a gallon, while we are paying only 5 dollars a gallon.

I don’t think many Americans know how much Europeans pay for gas, because they don’t complain about the costs nearly as much as we do. I feel this has to do in part with them having more time to accept higher fuel costs, but also in how they’ve gotten around the costs: smaller cars and public transportation. In America, we just haven’t gotten on ball with the European mindset for transportation. We are still stuck in the post-war “a car in every garage” mentality. In fact, in LA there are more cars than there are people! Why does one person need an Expedition to do drive to and from work, in traffic, alone? And why do they do so when the train runs right beside the freeway?

I got the small car part of the European mentality down years ago, but now I’m getting on the public transportation ball as well by taking the train. This is partially because of the increase in gas prices, and partially because it is less expensive, faster, and a lot less stressful than sitting on the 5 in rush hour. I do a little bit of reading and arive relaxed instead of anxious and exhausted. It isn’t as easy for everyone to just jump on a train. I’m lucky to live a mile from the train station, and I’m lucky that my boyfriend lives a mile from his train station. There are a lot of people who I know the train would work for them, but they don’t take it. Why?

I think the answer to that is American’s drive for independance. Even I feel vulnerable when I take the train, and I love public transportation. It is a little nerve racking to know that you are completely dependant on Metrolink to take you where you need to go, and friends to drive you other places if needed. It just doesn’t fit in with our culture.

I had a lot easier time riding public transportation in Japan, France and Washington DC than I do in my own backyard. Aside from the fact that their trains run a lot more often in these areas, being without a train is an even more vulnerable situation than being with one. Aside from the unknowns and dependane on the trains, you don’t know the streets, you don’t know the traffic patterns, you don’t know the area, etc. Because of all of these unknows it is much more comforting to get in a box on a track, knowing exactly where it is going to take you. You don’t get that feeling here.

Since I started taking the train more I started thinking about how much I actually need my car. I could take the train/bus to work, I already take it to LA on the weekends. I can ride my bike to restaurants and the grocery store, and there are buses that go places futher than comfortable to ride. Because the public transportation system in So Cal sucks, I don’t feel that I could be 100% dependant on it. For example, the last train out from Unioin Station is at 8:45pm…. that’s nothing compared to midnight or even 2am in other places. Even if I could take the train everywhere, that wouldn’t solve my want for independance. My want to to in my car and go somewhere without a schedule telling me what to do.

I think it is time for us all to admit that the car culture in America is dying. It saddens me a lot. Next weekend I’m supposed to be at Buttonwillow raceway, helping out and watching a friend do race school. Another friend is doing a track day at Willow Springs, which I’ve been invited to as well. Buttonwillow is 160 miles away. Last year I wouldn’t have batted my eye to this distance. I would have driven there, taken some laps around the track, then driven the two hours from Buttonwillow to Willow Springs to cheer on my other friend, and back to Buttonwillow. I would have wasted a tank of gas doing this and thought nothing of it. But now, while I’m still going to go to Buttonwillow, I’m not looking forward to the trip like I would have. I just don’t feel like paying for it at the pumps. I wish I could have been born 30 years earlier so I could have enjoyed the car culture longer.