Senators grill oil company execs over huge profits...

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

Additionally, I'm sorry to say that most people do indeed get to choose whether or not to purchase gas. Ride your bike to the bus station, take the light rail, carpool, whatever - the American "driving lifestyle" is not a right or a duty, is it?

If you live in a city too small for public transit, you can likely find non-car transportation (because there simply is not that much distance to cover). If the distance is too great, you can likely find public transportation.

While I see your point and agree with much of what you say, there are not-so-small cities across the country where public transportation really isn't a viable option right now. The public transportation that we have doesn't come anywhere near my house -- given the distance I would have drive to where I can park my car and take public transit, I might as well drive to work. And that's before considerations of things like getting the kids to school. (We could take them to where they could get a ride on a school bus, but that ride would be about 1 hour+ each way for a school 4 miles from the house and on my way to work, so . . . .)

While our lack of alternatives well may be because of the choices that people have historically made that favor having one's own car, making public transportation or low public priority in the past, the reality is that it will be many years before I or many (most?) of the people where I live, will have any viable, regular alternative to driving my own car.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

While I see your point and agree with much of what you say, there are not-so-small cities across the country where public transportation really isn't a viable option right now. The public transportation that we have doesn't come anywhere near my house -- given the distance I would have drive to where I can park my car and take public transit, I might as well drive to work. And that's before considerations of things like getting the kids to school. (We could take them to where they could get a ride on a school bus, but that ride would be about 1 hour+ each way for a school 4 miles from the house and on my way to work, so . . . .)

While our lack of alternatives well may be because of the choices that people have historically made that favor having one's own car, making public transportation or low public priority in the past, the reality is that it will be many years before I or many (most?) of the people where I live, will have any viable, regular alternative to driving my own car.

I agree, and probably overstated my case a touch, but why aren't we having Congressional hearings on this? Where's the funding for public transportation (or where is it going)?

It's a charade.