As of today, cheapest gas in our area is $3.99.

[eppur_se_muova]

And gas has always been fairly cheap around here, compared to elsewhere.

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. $4.09, but I have managed to eke out 3 weeks on 1 tank of gas.

I am pretty proud of myself.

[RebelOne]

2. In my neighborhood in No. Georgia, it's $3.96 to $3.99.

[Phillycat]

3. It's going to keep going up...and it should.

This is the beginning of something that will ultimately be very good for America, and will unfortunately be very scary for a lot of people in the meantime.

[MrCoffee]

5. ...

I double dog dare you to post that in GD.

:popcorn:

[Phillycat]

7. Okay. :)

[Phillycat]

10. Done.

I has brave!

[MrCoffee]

14. U iz the crazy.

Get your asbestos pants on, they're gonna burn your ass.

[Phillycat]

16. Not so far.

GD is different from GDP! Not as many lunatics ready to fly off the handle at a moment's notice.

[huskerlaw]

9. I would agree with you if

we didn't have an entire middle section of the country with zero public transportation and no realistic way to get it.

[Phillycat]

11. Private mass transit companies will develop.

It's just the interim that's going to be horrible for so many people.

[huskerlaw]

13. In the cities, perhaps

but there is NO WAY to have economically viable public transportation out in the rural areas of the midwest.

If you think that there is, you clearly haven't been there.

How do you put in a bus line where people's HOUSES are an HOUR apart?

And before you say "they should move," consider whether or not you want them to grow your food.

[Phillycat]

15. I would never say "they should move".

Listen, Europe has plenty of places where houses are an hour apart. They manage to have efficient mass transit. Sometimes you have to walk a couple of miles at the end or beginning of your trip. This is not something most Americans would consider, but it will ultimately be good for us. And yes, there are disabled people in Europe too, and the community manages to get them where they're going. There will always be cars, and there will always be people who cannot get around on mass transit. But when gas prices force the MAJORITY of people to find another way to travel, the demand WILL increase the supply. That's a free market.

Buses, trains, and subways everywhere are packed to the gills these days because people don't want to pay the gas prices. I could make a fortune opening up a bus service from my area to the city, because the trains are so overcrowded. I'd need a permit to carry people - I imagine local governments will get into the business of licensing people to operate people moving companies - which will provide revenue.

Nobody knows how it will all shake out in practice, exactly. But there will be movement in this direction, which is ultimately a very good thing.

[huskerlaw]

17. You can't compare the US to Europe

Most European countries are the size of one of our SMALL states. There are no examples of a country even remotely the size of ours that has viable public transportation through its rural areas. The difference in size between the rural parts of any given European country (save Russia) and ours is astronomical.

I loved the public transit in Europe too, but claiming that we could set up something similar is entirely unrealistic.

What's the longest distance from any given city to any other given city in, say, France...which does have a large rural area? A few hours, max. In the US? Well, I used to live in Lincoln, Nebraska. If you head west out of Lincoln, it's a solid 8 hours before you get to another city. There is very little but farmland in between. North? Well, 8 hours will get you to South Dakota...enough said. South? If you go more east than south, it's about 4 hours to Kansas City. If you go straight south, you hit a city in...about 8 hours. East? You hit a city in an hour. Of course if you continue east from that one city, it's another 3 hours before you get to Des Moines. How do you propose setting up a viable mass transit system there?

And that doesn't touch the fact that this country depends on trucks to transport goods from one part of the country to another. What do we do about that? We're already paying more for goods because of the price of gas...how, exactly, do we deal with that? What about farmers who can't afford to run their tractors?

I don't mean to attack you. In fact, as far as cities are concerned, I agree with you. We need mass transit and we need it fast. There is no reason why cities such as Los Angeles have such a piss-poor metro system (except, of course, that nobody has made it a priority). And yes, this gas crisis could very well be just the thing we need to MAKE it a priority. But I do not think that the potential urban benefits outweigh the horrible consequences in the rural areas.

[Phillycat]

18. Okay, to take your Lincoln example...

My proposal is that private mass transit companies will spring up to meet the demand that public companies haven't met. So...how many people are commuting from Lincoln, Nebraska to whatever city that is 8 hours away, for work? Are people actually doing that on a daily basis? To me, that's what trains are for.

My guess is that people in that area mostly commute from rural areas outside Lincoln, into the city itself for work, or at least around that area. Am I right? So if you have 20 people taking their cars from the Northwest quadrant outside Lincoln, and you have a guy with a small school bus or van-type vehicle who wants to make some money, he opens a business, gets licensed, and all those people have to leave an hour earlier for work because they get picked up on their van line. Which they're willing to do, because gas costs $6 a gallon or whatever the fuck it's going to end up being.

Trucks transporting goods - it will be trains ultimately, trains that run on something cleaner than they do now. Like the bullet trains in Europe. That's inevitable. It's almost impossible now for truckers to make a living, as their salary is eaten up by their fuel costs.

Alternative energy sources will be pursued with some more fervor than they've seen previously when we start running out of things like wheat, because farmers can't run their farm equipment. Will we see some starvation first? Probably.

I don't feel attacked. I like talking about it. I think it's going to be a fascinating time - also a scary and terrible time. But America was built on cheap gas, and we now have to find a new way to run the country. Ultimately, I think that's a good thing.

[huskerlaw]

20. As I said...

it could probably work IN cities, so I agree with your Lincoln example. My problem is, what do you do with the 8 hour stretch of land and people in between the cities? How are they supposed to get the hour (or more) from their farm to the nearest small town for groceries, church, school, etc.?

The quadrant theory doesn't really work there, since you'd be hard pressed to find 20 people within a decent distance of each other.

[Phillycat]

21. Well, we disagree.

I think people will figure out a way to make it work, because they won't have a choice. And I believe in American ingenuity. We've never really had to direct our efforts to solving this problem, because cheap gas has always been available. Gradual change won't work. We've been watching it not work since the 70's, since the original gas shortage.

But thanks for the civil discussion! :hi:

[SOteric]

4. $4.25 is the cheapest I know of around here,

and I have to drive 200 miles every weekend for work. x(

[huskerlaw]

6. $4.65

Yes, I'm serious.

[montanto]

8. It was 4.80 here yesterday. I didn't look this morning.

[huskerlaw]

12. Oh fuck, really?

I apparently haven't looked for a few days. Great. :banghead:

[montanto]

25. Well, I've been walking for a couple

of weeks already. Was looking into a Vesper today.

[NewJeffCT]

19. I saw $4.27 this morning

though, I'm sure it will be like $4.35 by this evening.

[yellowdogintexas]

22. $3.85 at WallyWorld. I don't know the price at Costco

they are usually the least expensive around here.

[TommyO]

23. I saw $3.95 in NJ yesterday (just off of I-78)

I hope it's the same price later, when I'm driving past it again (and will need to fill up).

[BarenakedLady]

24. $4.15

[puerco-bellies]

26. $4.55 and up in the Los Angeles area.

Thanks dubya.