Gas Prices Causing Surge Of Mass Transit Riders

With the price of gas approaching $4 a gallon, more commuters are abandoning their cars and taking the train or bus instead.

Mass transit systems around the country are seeing standing-room-only crowds on bus lines where seats were once easy to come by. Parking lots at many bus and light rail stations are suddenly overflowing, with commuters in some towns risking a ticket or tow by parking on nearby grassy areas and in vacant lots.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[True]

I live in a large city, but unfortunately cannot take advantage of public transport because it adds an hour to my commute every day, because i have to transfer three times. And forget about it if I should happen to be out after 8pm. Next year i plan to move to another city, to a place where i can get rid of my car entirely.

[AmandaRuth]

hello folks,

It is 7:20 in the morning in Seattle, and I am really enjoying my commute to work right now on a clean, smooth train. It is almost filled to capacity, and we have 3 more stops before we get into Seattle.

Some tables of riders are actively engaged in conversation, some are working on their laptops, some are reading, some are i-poding, but we are are flying past the traffic on hwy 167.

[KillTheMessenger]

That is the sad part. Since has is so high, it is hard to find a single seat. I like riding the train. Especially when I am alone in it. I know, that is such a horrible thought, ecologically, but what can I do? I just like being alone with my thoughts.

[aristippe]

My local gas attendant told me that he expects gas to rise to 10.00$ during the summer. What does he know?

[UnbiasView]

I'm sure he knows how much the min wage is.

[totalliberal]

Maybe this will force Americans to get together and enjoy each others company for a change. Cars have a way of isolating and angering their drivers. I doubt if any commuters will want to listen to Rush rant on about how great the individual cowpoke is on his own and how the commies are running things.
America was founded on co-operation and neighborliness, not hostility and isolation.

[UnbiasView]

People don't like public transportation for just that reason: It smells, its dirty, its slow, etc.

You are a moron if you think people will "enjoy each others company" and aren't just going to throw on their iPods

[totalliberal]

Wow aren't you just the nasty little bit of rubbish? Hell, stay in your car and "Fume" your way to work for as long as you can. Others of us are trying to think ahead. I personally like being with people, that's why I go out to parties, theaters and clubs. Being a republican/conservative must be very hard and stressful..

[drkazmd65]

You obviously haven't been on the DC metro system - Speed could be better, but it is generally clean, non-smelly, and despite the lack of 'speed' it is predictible in arrival times.

AND - you don't have to deal with parking, traffic, and other idiot drivers. Even if everybody just puts on their I-pods - what's the problem?

I would take the train / bus in a second if it ran to near where I worked.

[loki]

And you would think the surge of riders would mean more money and higher profits for mass transit. But in many cities it means they are now screaming to raise the prices! Go figure. It doesnt cost much to run the buss or electric tram if 10 people or 100 people ride it. But when you can say it does and use the fear and scare tactics to get more profit, they will do it.

[KillTheMessenger]

Did you ever consider the possibility that mass transit is not primarily an effort to make money? There is not one place in the world with working mass transit systems where the primary goal is to have a profitable business (although there are some places where it actually is one). Mass transit is usually a public service that allows you to get from your home to your work (school etc.) without using your car. It is there to help YOU to escape high oil prices.

Now, of course, if you hate paying taxes (gas taxes, property taxes, income taxes or any other taxes) and your community is already strained by not having enough tax income but increasing financial burdens, you are automatically screwing yourself out of one of the best ways to decrease oil demand because that shiny new mass transit bus/train costs money. Money that YOU, the rider or YOU, the taxpayer, has to come up with. Or, you just forgo mass transit all together, and then YOU have to buy expensive gasoline. In the end it is YOUR choice how hard you want to make it on yourself.

[azureblue]

And who is the biggest consumer of gas & oil?

Guess..

it's the US Department of Defense. That's right the DOD, uses more fuel for its jets, ships, tanks, copters, Hummers, etc. than the entire United States. Guess what happens when the war on Iraq ends? The oil prices go down, for two reasons:

more supply,

and the most important one: halliburton ends its war profiteering..

[totalliberal]

That would be the biggest "single" user. Trucking, personal transport and heating dwarfs their consumption.

[UnbiasView]

Don't let facts get in the way when liberals have a chance to bash the military.

[loki]

I never have understood how many republicans always say they dont want their money going to Universal Health Care because it is not their responsibility to give someone else health care, and yet, they are all for paying for a military that spends in one month 10 times what universal health care would cost for a year in rebuilding countries, supplying them with Universal health care, education, and even security many times greater than what we have at home. To rethugs, that is ok. I guess it is they often kill thousands of innocents at the same time. Maybe if they killed thousands of Americans every day, rethugs would be ok with supporting Universal health care, education, and helping to rebuild our collapsing infrastructures.

[TurgidCaterwauling]

In Europe you can generally take a bus or a train to the same location. In middle America, good luck finding either.

[loki]

I know in some cities, like St. Louis, you can take the train only if you want to go to the casino. They dont go any other direction.

[lastams]

Funny how the number one concern of Americans is getting so little press. Even on this site, the discussion is buried half way down the page, stuffed in with other "economic" news, because no one seems willing to take a serious look at what is going on.
When are we going to admit that this is about more than simple supply and demand?
Demand has just not increased so rapidly as to explain a thirty percent rise in oil prices in less than a month, yet no one seems to have a better explanation.
The fact is that the price of oil is set by a back and forth between OPEC, the cartel,and the Nynex spot market.
By far, the greatest influence on this market is Saudi Arabia. The Saudis dictate oil policy to ALL members of OPEC, impose quotas, and set the price of oil at every wellhead in the Middle East.
Of course through profit sharing agreements, whenever the Saudis make a buck, Exxon-Mobil and Shell make two; That's what makes the argument against "America's dependence on foreign oil" such a sham. I guess everyone thinks that the oil companies just got lucky. Lucky indeed.
So isn't it time to start asking some serious questions here? Instead of blaming things on the usual suspects, perhaps we should take an honest look at who controls our fossil fuel infrastructure, while we still have an infrastructure to support.

[UnbiasView]

Last 4 years:

Oil prices up 100% compared to the Euro
Oil prices up 300%+ compared to the Dollar

High oil prices is a combo of rising price of the product and a weak dollar. Thank the Fed for lowering interest rate about once a week (creating imaginary money) and flooding the market with dollars (stim package).

On the other hand, now would be a good time to pay off some debt because our dollar is worth less.

[loki]

This is old news now. Its been going on for a while. Media looks for things that bring in ratings, or in Hufpo case, clicks. People dont want to be reminded how bad we are being screwed. We tend to numb our selves and block stuff like this out. That must be it, as its the only way I can think of why we would continue to re-elect and support the corporate Aholes in DC year after year. Either that are we are just that stupid. For Duh people, of Duh people.

[KillTheMessenger]

We will stop calling it supply and demand when it will be more than that. How much you pay at the pump depends solely on how much you are willing to pay at the pump. I know 500 million people who are willing to pay $8/gallon. They are called Europeans. The rest of the story is economics 101.

[shadow1961]

Fact- everyone who says commuter rail can't work in the US don't even know their own history. Until the early 50's, most people who had to go somewhere used some combination of light and heavy rail. In fact,
municipal light rail lines were so common at the turn of the century (the 20th) that is was just about possible to go from New York city to Minneapolis using municipal rail systems exclusively.

If we are smart enough, and that's a qualified if- we can get back to that. Peak Oil is a reality we're about to become well-aquainted with- we simply won't have the cheap oil to waste on long haul trucking and suburban development anymore. The qualification is, of course, the self styled libertarians, conservatives,
ayn rand fanboys, and other trash of that ilk constantly trying to sabotage every constructive initiative that
comes down the pike.

[UnbiasView]

Population in 1950 - 152,271,417
Population in 2008 - 304,054,209

BTW, peak oil is not a reality, oil is everywhere you just have to find it. Brazil just found the 3rd largest reserve in like the last 40 years.

[KillTheMessenger]

If you just keep telling yourself often enough that peak oil is not a reality, it won't be.

You also might want to read up on the details about the Brazilian discovery... for one thing it is mostly hype with no official information. For another, the oil is in a geological formation for which no reliable production technology exists. Finally, the reported (and hyped) discovery is 33 billion barrels. The world currently produces 85 billion barrels a year. So if the discovery were true (which it probably isn't) and the oil could actually be produced (which it probably can't), it would make a measly 140 days worth of supply.

Reality sometimes just sucks bad when you actually crunch the numbers.

[loki]

In many cases, it was the private bus and taxi companies who killed light rail.

[NoSillyName]

I live in the rural area outside of a town of about 16,000, 75 miles from the nearest big town and there is NO transit, mass or otherwise, other than individual vehicles. With only Walmart in the town, I have to drive that 75 miles in a 25 year old 8-cylinder vehicle if I need things that store doesn't have. I'm on a small fixed income so that really hurts.

[loki]

Your a norm rather than the exception. And the 1% elitist and corporate who control American dont see that, dont care about that, and dont want to help with that. Now getting another tax break for themselves, or something that benefits themselves personally, then yes, they will bust their balls for it. But for normal people?? They would not get their hands so dirty.

[KillTheMessenger]

Find three other people in a similar situation. Share the ride with them. Use the car with the best gas mileage. Suddenly you will get far better gas mileage per person in your old cars than I get in my Prius.

[kellygrrrl]

hopefully, So Cal Amtrak et al will get their act together.

public transporation her is a complete joke!

[UnbiasView]

It is everywhere except for NYC & Chicago.

[foghornleghorny]

Cleveland's is really good - just rated best in the country.

[drkazmd65]

DC isn't bad either - but it could be extended (and should be) to some of the commuter communities in MD and VA. That would help things out a lot.

[AmandaRuth]

but then i guess an oil executive wouldn't make their 100 million salary, or whatever their total compensation is. Maybe they would have to make due of $500,000.

[UnbiasView]

As much as many of the hippies would like, oil is still the fuel that makes this economy go. Oil is what puts food on your table every night and it isn't going away because a novelty train, sorry.

Amanda instead of whining about what other people make, try going out and making some cash yourself.

[AmandaRuth]

dude, i make plenty of cash, why don't you address the oil companies who are bleeding this country dry

[Blutus]

"Hippies"????

Are you 90 years old?

Those "hippies" are sure powerful!

[ChiGuy]

Mayor Daley here in Chicago, has long been a proponent of bicycles and bike accessibility, and has pursued many things in that vein as a result, including a path network nearing completion.

We also have an excellent mass transit system throughout Chicagoland.

I average 4000 miles per year in my car.

[AmandaRuth]

i have always lived in rural areas and worked in the city. I have been in the work force for 32 years, and have commuted by car, bus and train, and I am here to tell you commuter trains are the way to go. It is by far the least stressful way to commute. In my area, the commuter train was started under much protest by conservative types, who via vomit radio got their zombie followers to march around in circles say bullshit like "you never get anyone out of their cars", much like a certain poster on this thread.

Well, every year, more runs have been added due to demand, and the biggest problem is the number of runs and parking at the outlying stations in a challenge and being addressed.

My hour commute is spent surfing (wireless on trains) and other people read, tables of old guys play chess or cards, most executive types work responding to business emails, kicking the asses of their driving counterparts, who instead of getting further in their jobs, are driving, experiencing road rage, listening to hate radio, getting home so stressed they can barely function.

[loril]

We chose our neighborhood a few years ago partly due to the availability of mass transit here. We knew that someday soon we would be in a situation where it would be cost prohibitive to drive. My husband made the switch to the bus this year. We did not replace his car when it croaked last year. Now we share one. I am doing a lot more walking for our errands. I have lost a few pounds and I find walking though the neighborhood a pleasant activity (in nice weather).

My husband enjoys his commute now because he can read and listen to music along the route and he gets a small block of rare downtime. Even after we replace his car with a new one (hopefully a much more "green" model or an electric down the road) he will continue with mass transit for his commute.

As a refugee from the exurbs, I love our inner ring suburb. We actually know our neighbors. We are closer together so we want to know one another. Neighbors drop off food, we borrow one another's garden equipment and tools and our kids run through the backyards happily sharing the space.