Cedar Point OR SF Great America in June

But how many people have that opportunity? Heck, the county/state/city leaders in Charlotte and NC keep pushing back public transportation. I love it. I wish there was a park and ride close to me that took me close to work. I'd bike to the station and bike from the station to work.

Unfortunately the majority of people don't live where public transportation is either available or doesn't suck.

I personally don't care how big my carbon footprint is, I will take driving into the city over being sniffed by strangers on public transit any day. (Oh, the stories my co-workers tell...) :-)

If you make yourself smell good you are just asking for it.

I totally thought it would be Gonch that was first to +1 that.

I actually like mass transit, and not even for the cost benefits. But, then, I like getting sniffed by random strangers, so maybe thats just me :-).

On that note, I just saw Jim Norton a couple months ago here in Charlotte, and he had a hilarious ancedote about sitting beside a guy on a plane that smelled really good, and how ridiculous society is in that it's pretty 'taboo' for a guy to tell another guy he smells nice, so after the flight he just asked the guy what calogne he was wearing, and that it smelled really good. The guy looked at him and said "I'm not wearing any". It was far funnier from the mouth of Jim Norton, but I thought I'd share.

Tekwardo said:

I totally thought it would be Gonch that was first to +1 that.

I'll have to settle for 3rd.

Tekwardo said:

But how many people have that opportunity?

I dunno, a lot of people in big cities. It's not great here in Cleveland, but it's adequate. I've used it in Seattle and Chicago where it's awesome. Friends in DC and NYC insist it's the only way to get around.

Carrie J. said:

...I will take driving into the city over being sniffed by strangers on public transit any day. (Oh, the stories my co-workers tell...) :-)

I drive for RTD and have absolutely no idea what you're talking about... :P

Yes. Slithernoggin, people pay for gas because they have to, not because they are willing. I live in a very small town that has no public transportation, and the nearest towns for grocery shopping is 46 miles round trip. Also need to take my 76 year old mother to her appointments, because she can't drive.

People like me, who live in the middle of nowhere pay big bucks for gas, because we have to, not because we are ok with it. My older brother used to live in europe, and you could take a train, taxi, or bus, just about anywhere. The US used to have trains, and trolleys, that went a lot of places, and dismantled them with the invention of the automobile, which we now has a good percentage of the country pinned into paying for gasoline.

When people started switching to deisel, because it was cheaper, they raised the price on that, to send those people back to unleaded gas, and now both prices are about the same per gallon. We can blame the folk involved with 9/11 for that. Gas was around $1.39 a gallon on the morning of 9/11 and shot up to $4.00 a gallon while the towers were still standing, as if the oil companies knew it was going to happen, and it has not gone down since.

... people pay for gas because they have to, not because they are willing.

Yes. You have to drive 46 miles to buy groceries. You have to drive your mother to where she needs to go. (Can you combine your 46-mile drive for groceries with driving your mother to her appointments?) What you do not need to do is drive to an amusement park.

My point stands: as long as people pay $4 for a gallon of gas, no matter how much they may complain, gas stations will continue to charge $4 for a gallon of gas.

People like me, who live in the middle of nowhere pay big bucks for gas...

People everywhere pay big bucks for gas. I pay big bucks for gas. You're not alone in that. See above.

Gas was around $1.39 a gallon on the morning of 9/11 and shot up to $4.00 a gallon while the towers were still standing...and it has not gone down since.

It certainly has gone down since. 2008? Financial crisis? World economy on bring of collapse? Gas was under $2 a gallon...because people didn't have money to spend, demand for gas shrank, and the oil companies and gas stations reacted by lowering their prices.

For once, I can relate to Timber-Rider's post. I spend about a quarter of my paycheck on gas.

The only thing I like about public transportation is that it allows me to sleep a little longer on the way to work. Give me the comforts and solitude of my car every day and I'm happy, even if my commute is crazy long. Which it is.

The Metro in DC is absolutely awesome. The summer I spent there was the first time gas hit $3/gallon and the freakout that went along with that. I calculated that getting around on the Metro saved me about $750 over what I would have spent on gas if I had been driving that summer. Even the trips out to SFA were nice and easy, and sure beat paying $20 for parking.

slithernoggin said:

My point stands: as long as people pay $4 for a gallon of gas, no matter how much they may complain, gas stations will continue to charge $4 for a gallon of gas.

Gas stations have very little say in the price of gasoline, and actually don't make a huge profit on gas sales. Most of their profit comes from selling food and stuff.