Large Scale Central

This phenomenon has a name: freedom

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/way-we-drive-now_552546.html

The Way We Drive Now
There’s a reason Washington can’t get Americans out of their cars.

Mar 7, 2011, Vol. 16, No. 24 • By FRED BARNES

Weekly Standard said:
For most Americans—make that most of mankind—the car is an instrument of mobility, flexibility, and speed. Yet officials in Washington, transportation experts, state and local functionaries, planners, and transit officials are puzzled why their efforts to lure people from their cars continue to fail.
Weekly Standard said:
The simple fact is most people prefer to travel by car because it’s convenient, which mass transit rarely is. They can go from place to place directly, choosing their own route and schedule. They can do so day and night. They can stop as frequently as they wish for any reason (do errands, drop off kids, etc.). This phenomenon has a name: freedom.

True but millions still fly and rent cars at their destinations, its a question of distance vs convenience. Here in the US if I have a trip of about one day driving time I’ll drive that over flying because the time spent waiting at the airport, getting worked like a muppet by TSA and then risking delays in takeoff time can make what should be a short flight into a day long affair. But overnight trip or cross country trips driving can get very very time consuming and tiring.

Example:
My wife went to a seminar in Berkeley, she was going with a group and that group was flying up courtesy of the sponsor. At the last minute I had the time to go also so we figured I would drive up so we had a car. I dropped her off at the airport then headed north, straight up Hwy 5, by the time she got thru check in, boarding, and the flight, baggage, then getting a cab across the bay to Berkeley and checking into the hotel, I was only a little over an hour away! And this is considered a “short” flight.

But I have another story:
We were traveling in France as part of a group tour, on the way to Lyon we found out that in the past a group of tourists instead of staying with the bus took the TGV to Paris, our next stop, so when we arrived we went to the station and bought tickets for the morning train, we left our luggage with the tour when the bus left at 8am, the train left at 9am, we were in Paris by 11am - 3 full hours before the bus arrived by hwy, so the convienience of the speed of the train over the given distance really sold us on the HST concept.

Now add in $4 a gallon gasoline, yep we got it already, and the driving part can now become much more expensive proposition depending on what your chosen vehicle is…Someone driving a 40mpg high milage car will be more prone to the drive option vs some dufus still driving a 9mpg Hummer H2.

Blame Henry Ford.

The entire American psyche is geared to individual transportation. What do you think killed rail passenger service in the first place. Look at European freight - they use trucks for local delivery only. All long distance (over an out an back delivery) is by rail. Most passenger service is geared the same, with the exception of very rural areas. Their mass transit system works because the cost of the freedom we speak of is so high that the mass transit alternative is acceptable.

I have long believed that if the railroads and the trucking industry had joined forces back in the twenties instead of competing, we would have that very model here as well. I also believe that it could be instituted now if the two concerns would work in cooperation. As gas/diesel pricing continues to climb (I am paying $3.79 today for diesel in NW Florida) I am beginning to look to other means for the 18 mile round trip to work. IF available mass transit were available at reasonable cost, I would consider it. Even if it doubled my transit time, to me the cost savings would justify. Plus I could read my GR while someone else pays attention to the other idiots on the road.

My tuppence worth.

Bob C.

Great I can put my 2 cents in.
I live in a rural area. I get tired of driving every where.
The problem is that there is no public transportation here.
A taxi maybe. but they wont come out to my place, and the cost :0
We have no buses or trolleys or trains.
That leaves Cars, scooters or bike, and the shoe leather express.
And as for driving long trips I think it is better to take transit.
You can be rested somewhat when you arrive at your destination.
You don’t have to find a parking spot, or worry about someone stealing your car or even smashing it.
Lets face it autos are quite expensive.
Oh my garsh and don’t have crank-up windows or your an olt fogie like me.
Hey, they should get a life. take a bus.

There I said it, now I feel better.

Now, easy on blaming Ford. He only capitalized on an already open market. Further, when he built the “T” he HAD intended on burning ethanol. Little did the masses know!

As for the joint truck/rail idea… I’ve been advocating intermodal terminals every 100-150 miles. Terminal to terminal is obviously rail-based… anything in between is via trucks.

Bob Cope said:
I have long believed that if the railroads and the trucking industry had joined forces back in the twenties . . .
Would anti-trust laws have allowed that?

There were some RR trucking companies, I think.
And RR bus companies too.
And airline bus companies.

The rail lines could capatilize on the gropes and nude photos at the airport, by offering no sexual assault travel. FWIW

Last time we flew was 2003 and that was to Hawaii to see our son in the Marine Corps. Not worth our time to fly anywhere else. Last time we took a train somewhere for the reason of transportation and not just pleasure, was probably the local light rail. But we, found that we could get to the airport in half the time by POV.

Freedom is extremely hard to give up. Egg head professors, union teachers, politicians, lawyers and judges have not offered a very convincing argument. When Obama and his secret service are in a Volt, maybe, just maybe, I’ll consider its a good idea for some people.

I live approximately 32 miles from where I work. I have 3 different ways to go by public transportation but it is still cheaper to go by car at this time. I had used public transportation for over 18 years going into the city I work. I finally decided to take my car after parking went from $4.50 a day to $7.50 a day in 3 years. Cost of the train went up as well. In my car I don’t get sneezed or farted at unless I am doing it to myself, No stinky drunks next to you when you stay late and go home. IN public transportation the trains eventually have no air conditioning in the summer, no heat in the winter, brekdowns because of poor maintenance and age of equipment , etc., etc… I think I will stay in my car. I also get to listen to my own radio station/music w/o listening to 10 other people’s stuff.
LAO

I’ll tell you what killed the RR in the US.
You will never believe it.
Look around.
Check the made in name on everything you buy.
No I’m not talking China.
Most everything you buy is made outside the USA.
Greed killed the RR. the all mighty DOLLAR.
From the top CEO to the kid on the street.
I have to get it for almost nothing. to how much profit can I make.
Don’t bother with the quality, how cheap can I get it.
Sounds like a bunch of bird brains, cheap, cheap, cheap.
So if you can’t make money hauling freight you wont be able to haul people. Freight is where the money is not passengers.
I’m not sarcastic just telling it like it is.
And sometimes it’s a hard pill to take.

Bob Cope said:
Blame Henry Ford.

The entire American psyche is geared to individual transportation. What do you think killed rail passenger service in the first place. Look at European freight - they use trucks for local delivery only. All long distance (over an out an back delivery) is by rail. Most passenger service is geared the same, with the exception of very rural areas. Their mass transit system works because the cost of the freedom we speak of is so high that the mass transit alternative is acceptable.

I have long believed that if the railroads and the trucking industry had joined forces back in the twenties instead of competing, we would have that very model here as well. I also believe that it could be instituted now if the two concerns would work in cooperation. As gas/diesel pricing continues to climb (I am paying $3.79 today for diesel in NW Florida) I am beginning to look to other means for the 18 mile round trip to work. IF available mass transit were available at reasonable cost, I would consider it. Even if it doubled my transit time, to me the cost savings would justify. Plus I could read my GR while someone else pays attention to the other idiots on the road.

My tuppence worth.

Bob C.

I think if you seriously study the demise of the railroads in the late 50’s you’ll find taxation as the cause. While the government funded new highways to make trucking cheap and fast, they taxed the railroad’s property to the point of choking them to where they could not compete. If it wasn’t for the rising cost of fuel, we would not have seen the resurgence in freight railroading that we have today.

David Hill said:
The rail lines could capatilize on the gropes and nude photos at the airport, by offering no sexual assault travel. FWIW
Yet!
Forrest Scott Wood said:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/way-we-drive-now_552546.html

The Way We Drive Now
There’s a reason Washington can’t get Americans out of their cars.

Mar 7, 2011, Vol. 16, No. 24 • By FRED BARNES

Weekly Standard said:
For most Americans—make that most of mankind—the car is an instrument of mobility, flexibility, and speed. Yet officials in Washington, transportation experts, state and local functionaries, planners, and transit officials are puzzled why their efforts to lure people from their cars continue to fail.
Weekly Standard said:
The simple fact is most people prefer to travel by car because it’s convenient, which mass transit rarely is. They can go from place to place directly, choosing their own route and schedule. They can do so day and night. They can stop as frequently as they wish for any reason (do errands, drop off kids, etc.). This phenomenon has a name: freedom.
Catch 22 ...... individual transport in the US has been very cheap and it's convenient therefore that's what we all want. As a consequence very little is invested in public transportation resulting in it being very inconvenient to use as well as being relatively expensive ...... and thereby closing the loop. US citizens are not very different from European citizens - we all respond to our own financial well being first, but in this case, in very different ways. As long as a gallon of gas was about the price of a cup of coffee here in the US any thoughts of mass transportation were way off any of our radar screens. By contrast, Europeans are now paying about $8.00 a gallon for regular gas and have been paying two to three times more for fuel than us for years. From that perspective they have come to see the wisdom of public policy that invests in convenient and affordable public transportation.

I live in the boonies. There is no bus. We have 2 choices; drive or take the shoeleather express…

And the way many folks drive, option 2 may get you planted early.

Im in the same boat as Mik. I have no public transportation. Its eaither drive or walk. Even if I had public transportation i would not use it. I like having the ability to go where I want when i want. Plus if i see something along my drive I want to be able to stop and check it out. Public transportation does not allow that.

I live in the boonies also. 22 miles to the nearest grocery, church, most restaurants and other shopping. It’s only 10 miles to WallyWorld, but that is a last resort.
If I must go to downtown Dallas, however, I’ll drive the 29 miles to Plano and take light rail and from there I can take the TRE to Fort Worth.
We took Amtrak in 2009 at Christmas to St Louis and then to St Paul. Except for the weather related delays in Chicago, it was very enjoyable. Of course the airlines were having weather delays also. I will do it again, but not in the winter, when time does not matter.
When I grew up in San Antonio in the 60’s the nearest bus line was 10 miles away. They didn’t get better bus service there until the mid 1970’s when they passed a 1/2 cent sales tax.

Roger
in the boonies AKA Caddo Mills, TX

We only have 16,000 people in the county, if you don’t count the people who claim to live in Florida.
So we don’t have the population density to support mass transit.

My brother’s conspiracy theory is that they are trying force people back into the urban areas by making the ownership and operation of automobiles too expensive for the average citizen.

Public transportation is great in urban areas, when it is done correctly. When I was in Berlin many years ago, you could get within a half block of anywhere in the city on either the subway or bus. And you never waited long for your bus. May be different now…

If I lived in the city and they had a good transit system, I would use it.
Ralph

your brother…a smart man…and a good angle none the less

Mik said:
I live in the boonies. There is no bus. We have 2 choices; drive or take the shoeleather express.....

And the way many folks drive, option 2 may get you planted early.


I think a lot of us if not most of us “live in the boonies”. That’s mainly because up until now that choice was made easy by cheap fuel. But if oil prices continue to rise and wages to stagnate, that choice may no longer be the right one. Maybe tomorrow we’ll drive our electric car to the closest urban center and take the train or bus to work.

We live in a small community of 3400. We moved here in 1975, because of the oil embargo of 1973. Our objective at that time, and still today, was to be in an area you wouldn’t mind being stuck in, if and when the guano hit the fan. I guess it comes down to - do you live for work or work to live? Obviously, we chose the latter. There was a time, over 20 years ago, that I drove 100 miles a day to work. I just considered it part of the job and accepted it as part of making a living. You make choices or let some egomaniac, narcissistic politician or professor make them for you. Never trusted those idiots, when I was in school and I sure don’t trust them now, they all have agendas and think they can control you. Freedom is living your life the way you want to and thumbing your nose at those that think your not fitting the mold. Some even think that enjoying model trains is crazy. Doesn’t just that, make it more enjoyable?