So, I'm waiting for the bus in Arlington, Virginia

[Squatch]

which is adjacent to Washington DC. I'm on S George Mason , when I thought I'd do a little off-the-cuff tally:

Gas up here is ~$3.04 per gallon.

I counted the first 100 motor vehicles to pass in the northbound (inbound) lanes.

94 vehicles have only one occupant.
6 vehicles have more than one occupant.

47 Sedans, coupes, hatchbacks
24 SUVs, pickup trucks, and full-sized vans
20 Minivans
6 Motorcycles
3 Large commercial vehicles (dump trucks, etc)

I tried to count hybrids, too, but since the only model that is readily identifiable as such is the Prius, I gave up on that. (There were 3 Priuses...or Prii? What's the plural of Prius?)

[taterguy]

1. How many bikes have gone by?

[Squatch]

2. Zero.

Absolutely no bicycles when I was counting the 100 vehicles. Nor were there any bicycles the entire time I was waiting for the bus.

[DainBramaged]

10. How Many Jeff Gordon environmental protesters did he count?

And how many rolls of toilet paper did they throw at the race cars going by?

:evilgrin: :hi: :hi:

[taterguy]

29. Don't be ridiculous, that sort of thing only happens in the South

The OP said he was in Virginia. Don't you know anything about geography?

[Virginia Dare]

3. Northern Virginians seem to love their gas guzzlers..

I guess the economy is still rosey enough for them not to have dumped them yet. All that defense dough rolling in and all. I do see a lot of hybrids on 395 though.

I take the bus and metro to work of course!!!

:kick:

[FormerDittoHead]

4. Think of the gas we'd save if we'd insure drivers and not cars.

I especially think of those trucks with the single drivers and the empty truck beds.

We had an old Chevy Nova (made by Toyota). It ran like a top and did almost twice the mileage that our current car does, but the annual insurance cost more than the car's actual value, so we got rid of it.

Otherwise, we'd be happy to have kept it and use it for commuting, etc.

I have AAA, and I noticed that it was good for any car I drive, even if it wasn't my own car. Compare that with auto insurance.

We we HAVE to do it this way? If I could own another, smaller car for just the cost of the car and not the insurance, I'd rather drive that than my sedan.

[bluethruandthru]

5. It would help if carpooling was made a bit more attractive.

My husband and I carpool in Maryland but with no HOV lanes on the Beltway and the total lack of enforcement on the 270 HOV...it doesn't help our commuting time much.

[Gormy Cuss]

6. How many people on your bus?

Average number of people for the length of your trip, that is.
I don't know what the break even point is for resource use but the typical city bus takes up the same road space as four full size cars, which matters when one is trying to reduce traffic congestion.

[Squatch]

7. I didn't even think to count the passengers on the bus.

But, since the bus came outside my 100-vehicle tally window, it doesn't matter, statistically speaking.

However, I would estimate the it was about 1/3 full or about 10 to 15 folks.

[Gormy Cuss]

8. Not part of your tally, but part of the solution.

I often hear drivers rail about "half-empty buses" as a traffic problem because there's no recognition that at that level of occupancy they're most likely reducing the congestion unless they're stopping every block.

[Squatch]

9. Absolutely part of the solution.

And in the DC metro area, there really is no excuse NOT to take mass transit to work.

In Norva alone, we have the VRE, the Metro, the bus system, and countless private shuttles, Additionally, there are miles and miles of off-the-road bike trails and walking paths.

I drive about 3 miles to the Rippon VRE station, ride the train to Crystal City, then hop on a shuttle or bus to Arlington. If I left Arlington at 5 PM, it would take me nearly 2 hours to get back to my home near Quantico. Using mass transit, I spend 10 minutes on the shuttle getting back to the VRE, 10 minutes waiting for the train, 30 minutes on the train, and 5 minutes getting home...most of the way enjoying the paper or a good book.

[alarimer]

24. It would also help if buses didn't take two hours to get anywhere

I know it varies from place to place but I don't have the time to wait on a bus and it takes forever to get anywhere. I work somewhat irregular hours as well. 14 hours one day, 8 the next, some weekends. I live 6 miles from work and, honestly, it easier for me to drive. It isn't safe to bike at all. And frankly the bus is sometimes just scary.

[Gormy Cuss]

26. The problem with many bus systems is that the service is infrequent because of low ridership

and the ridership is low because the service is so poor.

If we had a national transportation strategy to encourage good public transit maybe we could fix that problem. Mass transit will never replace private cars completely but to the extent that it can be a substitute for high demand times like rush hour everyone benefits.

[alarimer]

28. I am sure that's true

I also have a weird schedule so at least here it isn't practical for me to take the bus.

[Horse with no Name]

11. My daughter and I were driving down the road the other day

and saw one of those little small cars that were popular when Carter instituted cafe standards.
She asked why we didn't have cars like that when I explained to her that for a brief period of history, it looked like we might try to get away from oil dependence...then Reagan happened.
I'm disappointed that Clinton didn't try to put some of Carter's policy back into effect. I guess he was too busy putting the finishing touches on NAFTA.

[Touchdown]

12. When I visited in March, I took the Metro/bus everywhere.

Went to the zoo, all over the mall, chinatown. Went to Arlington Cemetary by taxi, but that was the only one. Took a private shuttle to Dulles air & space museum. We even got down to Alexandria for some seafood. All in all, I spent about $15 on Metro tickets over the week. Couldn't do it for that little with my car...even if I found a free parking space.

I wish Denver had that kind of rail service. :(

[BeliQueen]

21. The Blue Line has a stop at Arlington Cemetery

Right between Rosslyn and the Pentagon.

The taxis are horrible in this area--just so wickedly expensive.

But, yes, it's inexpensive and convenient to take public transportation in this area.

And we do need a lot more of it across America. Talk about reducing greenhouse gases and our dependence on oil--increased support for public transportation would really help.

[Squatch]

23. Plus the cabbies drive like complete morons.

[BeliQueen]

13. NoVa WMATA rider here

Good survey. My bus comes at the corner of George Mason and Route 50, and I've notice several bike riders and a few walkers when I'm waiting for the bus. But the congestion on Route 50 and around the Rosslyn area is amazing. Sometimes the traffic is so bad, I get out three stops before the Metro station and walk.

This morning, my bus had 20-25 passengers which is about what it has everyday.

I think the only way buses could contribute to the congestion is if they came every 2 minutes and carried only 2 passengers. And it's my reasoning that if buses came more frequently then more people would ride them.

[Squatch]

14. Once you get used to riding mass trans up here...

it becomes sooooo convenient. Screw driving into work each AM.

[BeliQueen]

19. Amen

Except on Saturdays and Sundays when it just seems that WMATA doesn't care if you have an appointment or a job. They'll get you there whenever.

[Coyote_Bandit]

15. DART

or Dallas Area Rapid Transit is the only thing I miss about living in Dallas. I LOVED DART. Could go anywhere 24 hous a day everyday. Single annual fee of about $120 or so for unlimited transportation.

Public transit here in Oklahoma is limited/nonexistent/unreliable.

[BeliQueen]

16. I work for a transportation association

and one of our divisions focuses on public transportation--or the lack of public transportation--in rural areas.

During the 50th anniversary of the Interstate--last year--we watched a documentary on how the Interstate was built--very enlightening. It's called "Divided Highways." Some people in the film postulate that the reason cable car trains went out of business was a lack of demand. And I know that that just isn't true because today we have subways and light rails which essentially do the same job. Cable cars were driven out of business by car manufacturers.

It's insidious, but the bottom line is that states need more public transportation funding for rural areas.

[Coyote_Bandit]

27. .

Absolutely true that rural areas need funding for public transportation.

I live in the Tulsa area. Not exactly rural. I believe the metropolitan area includes about a million or so folks. Public transportation here sucks.

There are a total of 26 bus routes that serve the entire metropolitan area. The total includes the express routes (two), the four night (evening) routes, the airport route, the Saturday routes, the museum route (Saturday only), the zoo route (Saturday only), and connection to two suburbs. Some routes run only during daytime hours Monday through Friday. Schedules and routes change for evening and weekend service. There are only four routes available between the hours of 8 pm and midnight Monday through Friday. Saturday service is limited. There is no service available at all on Sundays - and six annual holidays. Other holidays have only limited (Saturday) service available. In many cases Saturday service is offered only during the afternoon.

There are parts of the metropolitan area - and parts of the city itself - that literally have no nearby bus service. See this map of bus routes and remember that each square represents a square mile area:
http://www.tulsatransit.org/media/files/mainmap.pdf

Busses stop no more frequently than once every half hour. Evenings, weekends and holidays they stop no more frequently than once an hour. If they are on schedule.

The monthly pass available for unlimited bus rides costs $40. For most riders that translates into a cost of $40 to get to and from work. Because service is so limited, they are on their own to find additional transportation during evenings and weekends. The downtown area here isn't exactly booming. It is possible to find monthly paid downtown parking for less than the cost of a bus pass. Most people work in other areas where paid parking is not required.

There is a recurring proposal to add light passenger rail service from Broken Arrow to downtown Tulsa. Broken Arrow is a prosperous and growing suburb that has benefited tremendously as folks have fled the city proper and its problems with crime and taxes. Unfortunately, many of these commuters are now finding that it takes at least an hour to drive to work - and then, of course, another hour to get home. If this service is added then there will be a new class of clients utilizing public transportation. That combined with increasing energy costs may spur further improvements. Assuming it does occur it will take years.

Public transit in the area is better than nothing and better than what is available in most rural areas. Still it offers vast opportunities for improvement. And that will first require a change in attitude affecting how the service is valued by the general public.

[bigwillq]

17. And that's why gas prices will remain high

People continue to drive despite the cost.

Unfortunately I am guilty of it too. I am always driving alone. Sometimes I can't help it because of work purposes but until we change our behaviors, prices will continue to rise.

[SmokingJacket]

18. Clearly the price isn't high enough yet.

:hide:

[gratuitous]

20. I do that from time to time

Although what I count is the number of consecutive cars with only the driver. I don't think I've ever counted more than four consecutive cars with more than one person in it, but I've gotten into the 30s several times for single occupant vehicles. And this is "environmentally conscious" Portland, Oregon. The days when I bicycle, though, there is an encouraging number of folks two-wheeling it the closer I get to downtown. I've been in groups of up to a dozen through the last light onto the Hawthorne Bridge.

[LibDemAlways]

22. There is no public transportation where I live, but if

you had been taking a walk near my daughter's school at dismissal time you would have counted probably 600 full size gas guzzling SUVs - out of a school of 900 kids. The rest would have been vans with a smattering of passenger cars. This is a soccer mom type suburb of LA and the people are a bunch of stupid sheep - and this in an area where gas is currently between $3.48 and $3.68 a gallon. They don't care. Many of those guzzlers are new.

Spent a week in Seattle recently and one of the things that really stood out was the small, fuel efficient cars. Not nearly as many big gas hogs on the road. Good on them.

[bikebloke]

25. Bikers out of Arlington

Tuesday, when it was clear and sunny, the fair weathers bikers were wobbling out in force. Yesterday and today, with grey skies (but dry), it was only us few year rounders pedalling in. Perhaps once the depression sets in more will adapt.