On Demand
Driving Costs Up
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Wall Street Journal reporter Kelly Evans says that with oil at historically high prices, Americans are starting to cut back on their use of gasoline and Rik Paul, automotive editor at Consumer Reports, offers advice for consumers to cut gasoline spending. What's your strategy?
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Hey, Brian...
Love the show. My strategy to reduce gasoline spending is simple. Even though I live in California, I don't drive. Like you, I'm a road cyclist.
I used to cover about 200-300 miles a week on the bicycle. Now I've cut down to 150 miles a week, but I still get around more on my bike than a lot of Californians do in their cars. And I am not alone...
These days SO MANY people do long bike commutes in our area. Businesses are more accommodating, and provide showers, and it is just part of the sports-oriented lifestyle here.
Bloomberg is right, if people would plan cities and suburbs better, we could really reduce gasoline emissions because people could cycle or use public transport. And then we could reduce the billions upon billions of dollars that every state in the nation spends on treatment of Type II diabetes and heart disease. State of California wastes $23 billion a year on treatment of overweight and obesity-related illness. Guess who pays? The taxpayer. And it ain't no fun to be sick...
I'll be 40 this spring, and I still don't need no "steenking" car. But seriously, I do miss the NYC subways, they were brilliantly democratic.
Ride safe,
Eva
Everyone I know drives an SUV Big Fords, etc. No one will tell you exactly what they spend on gas. It's a lot.... It's a lot....
Why aren't there local "gasoline banks" where consumers can simply purchase actual gasoline for future use (hedging against rising prices).
Or are there?
Hey -- maybe I've found a useful purpose for those seemingly empty but weirdly multiplying bank branches now on every corner and intersection. They could be put to good use with that currency that never seems to devalue -- auto fuel.
greedy americans will keep driving those SUVs as poor 20somethings die in iraq for your right to be wasteful.
these are the end days
Insist on schoolbuses.
Less idling (law is 3 minutes or less anyway).
Speed limit and less stop-and-start.
And the big one...PROFESSIONALIZE NEW JERSEY TRANSIT.
Hi,
I got rid of my SUV and have been using ZipCars ever since, and I love it. I usually rent the Prius.
Do your guests believe that even when oil prices go down they will still remain close to the $100 dollar level? Do they believe people will make long-term behavioral changes?
I personally believe the only way to deal with oil use in America is by making it more expensive, perhaps through a gas tax. But now it seems the market has done it for us.
One year ago we made a decision to buy a hybrid sedan that we use 95% of the time for daily trips to school, grocery shopping, after school activities, and kept our minivan for the occasional longer family trips. We carpool with another family all the time. We work form home most of the time teleccommuting.
Hi Brian,
We own a 1998 SUV with almost 200,000 miles. In the past 2 years we have stopped using it except for when there is no other car available or when I am taking my daughter & her classmates on a field trip. Instead we are using my mother's 4 cylinder Toyota Corolla. We are hoping that we can hold out purchasing until better electric cars are available.
Regards,
A friend in Bay Area tells me that farm workers in central valleys in CA, who have to drive dozens of miles from towns to work in the fields, are also now limiting their trips to Walmart and teaming up. It really effects them because they make $8 an hour. This energy problem is hitting the poorest the hardest.
Dear Brian,
It is very interesting to hear that there is still a resistance to mass transit in the US. I moved from Washington DC to Berlin 3 years ago and have found that German culture is much more mass-transit oriented. Here we have amazing bus and subway systems (where as in Washington DC often buses would just not appear). I also ride my bicycle all around Berlin as there are bike lanes on almost every street. If Washington DC was like that I am sure many more people would actually ride a bike. Thanks
Sincerely,
Aaron
I use the clothes dryer much less frequently. Hanging clothes out to dry saves energy and makes them last longer.
Gone are the days of kids rolling around in the way back of a station wagon. So up here in Westchester I think the number of SUVs around is partly due to the fact that every kid in the car needs a seat with seat belt.
WHERE IS OUR WAR DIVIDEND?
Pure mismanagement of the empire. Heads should roll.
Ways I use to reduce gas consumption:
Walk more and use public transportation more frequently. I put ~1/3 fewer miles on my car than the year before.
Drive not more than 55 mph on the highway. I have achieved as much as 37 mpg on my Honda Civic on long trips, which may be more than what a hybrid gives you at higher speed.
Great show!
Another couple of 100 dollar increase in gas price is relatively painfree compared to exploding healthcare costs
One other thing I wanted to mention while on the air was that we own a rental house in a lake community in NWNJ. IN the past month I have gotten many calls from people living in the NY area saying they need a place to vacation that will not cost them a fortune to drive to. This is a big increase from years past. I think folks are looking to vacation in a spot that won't cost as much to drive to as it does to stay the week.
I have been taking the bus to NYC from Tenafly for 15 years. I walk to and from the bus too. We have only one car and we barely put 12k miles per year on it. We have been doing our part for at least the last 15 yrs. Now I have to pay for other gas gluttony. Get with it everyone reduce, reuse and recycle.
What were people thinking when they bought these gas guzzlers? I overheard a young couple with an infant talking about needing to buy an SUV now that they were a family. My family had four children and did just fine with a sedan or a station wagon. Small is beautiful.
I have notice there is no comment section regarding the topic of the Latin American tension that was announced at the beginning of the show, I have noticed that the Brian will forgo ant comment blog section when ever he is discussing latin american issues.
I use a great strategy for saving gasoline. 2 years ago I bought a 50cc Honda Metropolitan scooter for running errands and visting friends. In winter I have to use my small 4 cyclinder car, but once the weather changes, I go about on the scooter. Parking is esay, and I get about 90 miles per gallon, regular gas, not premium. Last year I rode 1200 miles on the scooter jsut in neighborhood riding at street speeds. Think of howmuch I saved over a vehicle that uses 16 mile/gal! If protected with a helmet and proper riding technique, I am relatively safe. If only drivers were more watchful for small vehicles like scooters and motorcycles and if the city were more tolerant with regulations, it would be ideal.
Lifestyle demands? Wake up and smell the coffee. If you think gas is expensive now, hide and watch. Read "The Long Emergency" by James Howard Kunstler.
AH... saving gas.
How about re-doing infrastructure?
Imagine if the NJ turnpike had a rail line next to it.
All 5,000 trucks going onto the turnpike every day could queue onto the train , and would be loaded onto a train, depending on where their cargo was headed.
Imagine the gas that could be saved..
more at sos-newdeal.blogspot.com
Mark
IMAGINE if Robert Moses had not crippled the NY
road system by designing it to NOT have mass transit!@!!!!
"Not having a choice" is a key word. Public transportation in New Jersey from one town to another within New Jersey is non-existent. Just as an example, in Bergen County, if I wanted to take a bus to go to next town from mine, I have to take a bus to Hackensack first, and then change to another bus that will take me to a town 5 minutes away. I can't even go from one end of my town to the other without having to drive. Arrrggghhh!
As long as the oil companies rule the public transportation policy of our country, and people's fear that public transportation will bring what many of them consider "the undesirables": poorer, less white folks, to their "nice, little, white bread towns", "not having a choice" will always be a big reason for driving, which by the way, I hate and consider a waste of valuable time. Public transportation allows me to read. Driving is just a never-ending aggravation.
some very wise and helpful comments above!
Live in West Milford, NJ and work in theatre inNew York City. We try very hard to use mass transit to get into the city but NJTransit seems to be trying to make it as hard as possible. They have just constructed RT 23 Transit Center to solve all the problems. During construction we looked at it and new immediately that it was no where near enough spaces to accommodate all the passengers. At 9:30AM that lot is full and you are stuck wondering where to catch a bus. In addition they are now charging and additional $2 to park in the lot - if you can find somewhere to park!
Repeatedly people get on the bus saying "we're trying to take mass transit, but you are making it almost impossible!"
There are two issues keeping us in our 1999 minivan: (1) very large replacement cost compared to maintenance cost; (2) crash safety, very important at our age (late 60s).
We also own a midsize VW sedan, with all available safety features. It's the best we could do in that area and it too has very high replacement cost.
We know that small cars can have very good safety ratings but the fine print says those crash ratings apply only to hitting other vehicles in the same weight class. We have no plans to buy an SUV but minicars are OUT. Minimizing costs or saving the planet from my hospital bed or the graveyard won't do.
one of my biggest complaints is the lack of public transit to ny state parks hiking, bicycling and xc skiing areas. the state should subside a shuttle bus from metro-north cold spring station to fahnestock xc ski area and to harriman state park/seven lakes drive.
i would like to take public transit to the areas. The reeves meadow parking lot is overflowing with private cars, i know may of these hikers travel from westchester where there is no public transit to harriman park. Fahnestock winter park in cold springs has a great xc ski area, it also needs a shuttle bus from the cold spring train station.
the problem is there are very few choices to travel car free
galvo and others,
we should demand a lot more from our lawmakers
alternative transportation methods should be embraced not outlawed. Westchester river town communities bordering the hudson line would be perfect places to use segway type devices. The train stations are located at sea level, the commuters and village stores are usually up steep hills, all within 5 miles. Majority of local trips to grocery store and errands could be replaced by segway type vehicle. There is very poor public transit in these town and cities, buses are not an option.
gov spitzer has outlawed segways use on ny state roads, i have never used a segway, but they seem like a perfect initial device to stop gas consumption. When the devices started gaining popularity, the price would drop to under 1000, the reason they cost above 3000 is the low demand now due to their outlawing. the state is working against the people trying to stop their gas use.
We can not understand how or how much we are being exploited until the full record of the 2001 Cheney Energy Policy meetings are exposed.
There are many automotive efficiency improvements that have disappeared from the market. Rarified Ignition from Honda. Diesel; Chrysler's Turbine; Natural Gas with reserves that were estimated in the '70s to support demand for 200 years. There are of course the apochryphal carburetor stories, but we know there is better efficiency than 25MPG at best. Finally, speculation in the commmodities market must be controlled. If speculators had to pay real money instead of low interest borrowed credit, they could not continue the Roller-Coaster volatility.
loved the show today.
we have a diesel VW jetta that gets 40mpgs. it is a great car. in the summer we burn bio diesel, which is getting easier to buy.
the ford model T got roughly 40 miles to the gallon too. unbelievable, right? our technology has gone backwards!!!!
consumers need to insist on better performing vehicles. car makers know how to make auto's that are efficient.
such a complex topic that stretches beyond the auto industry and toward government.
Galvo,
I agree with your post on #28, and if there was a subsidized rail line out of NYC to these outdoor areas, the benefits would extend greatly - in terms of reducing the patient care cost of treating Type II diabetes, heart disease, etc.
I'm not sure about your post on #30. I seriously worry that there's been a wimpification of New Yorkers. In the summer, it should not be a hardship to pedal uphill for a little while after you get off the train from work. People in Europe do it all the time, and with groceries.
The segway is a joke. It is a way of dissociating Americans from something they desperately need to incorporate into their daily lives - physical movement. A lot of it.
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