Gas prices

[Heracles 417]

ah....Americans cant get enough of cars:)

I am unable to drive and I have been begging for more adequaate public transportation in this country. In a big city such as NYC yes you have it. But if you get out of the city, you are hosed. You have sketchy commuter rails or have to rely on cab (expensive even more).

There was no way for me to live in the midwest and have a stable life due to not having a car. You have to move every few years across town to be closer to work. I've lost count of the apartments I've been in.

It's about time for more public transportation. It will save on gas and it serves everyone-rich or poor, disabled or not disabled....

the high gas prices that drivers pay are paybacks from me who has had to endure people driving in mud puddles and splashing me with water as I walked the sidewalks. lol

But gas prices affect everyone th;ough whether you drive or not. The can of tuna does not fly on your plate. Tuna has to be driven to the store too. So cost of oil going up is going to make everything go up as well.

The sad thing is that the rail is there. Rail which was once used by passengers is now only used for freight. I guess people here would rather risk their life battling the congested and run down roads than use a modern high speed train. Trains which can now travel a few hundred miles an hour. I like to drive but I also enjoy having the freedom of being able to sit on a train and relax to get somewhere rather than battle interstates.

[PlatyPius 5]

ah....Americans cant get enough of cars:)

I am unable to drive and I have been begging for more adequaate public transportation in this country. In a big city such as NYC yes you have it. But if you get out of the city, you are hosed. You have sketchy commuter rails or have to rely on cab (expensive even more).

There was no way for me to live in the midwest and have a stable life due to not having a car. You have to move every few years across town to be closer to work. I've lost count of the apartments I've been in.

It's about time for more public transportation. It will save on gas and it serves everyone-rich or poor, disabled or not disabled....

the high gas prices that drivers pay are paybacks from me who has had to endure people driving in mud puddles and splashing me with water as I walked the sidewalks. lol

But gas prices affect everyone th;ough whether you drive or not. The can of tuna does not fly on your plate. Tuna has to be driven to the store too. So cost of oil going up is going to make everything go up as well.

The sad thing is that the rail is there. Rail which was once used by passengers is now only used for freight. I guess people here would rather risk their life battling the congested and run down roads than use a modern high speed train. Trains which can now travel a few hundred miles an hour. I like to drive but I also enjoy having the freedom of being able to sit on a train and relax to get somewhere rather than battle interstates.

Actually, you're wrong. Most of the useful railways have been ripped up. Many are now bicycle/walking paths. By useful I mean railways that went through cities, near high employment areas. The Monon railway through Indianapolis (and where I live; Greencastle) is a perfect example. It's now the Monon Trail - a bike and walk way. This has happened in many cities across the country. "Rails to Trails" isn't just an Indiana group....

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

The rail is very much alive and thriving here in the armpit of this nation!

[palilover 1]

ah..you guys are indeed correct on the rail. I think they tried to implement something of a rail system but it went downhill. I know in Cincinnati, they wanted to get somewhat of a light rail system similiar to what Cleveland has. For cities in Ohio, you do not need something huge but decent enough so it does not take you 2 hours to get across the city by bus. But then the Great Depression hit....and people decided not to pick back up on it. Now it is just rotten....

VJ Troll.....I see you are from NJ...well, it DOES depend on where in NJ. The rail does not go everywhere;( Most of the job interviews I went to in Jersey, I had to hail a cab from a train station and the cab would cost me $20. Further out you get from NYC, forget it. Might as well go back to cow country:) Not that there's anything wrong with cows of course.....MMOOOOOOOOO

[Dan J 277]

ah..you guys are indeed correct on the rail. I think they tried to implement something of a rail system but it went downhill. I know in Cincinnati, they wanted to get somewhat of a light rail system similiar to what Cleveland has. For cities in Ohio, you do not need something huge but decent enough so it does not take you 2 hours to get across the city by bus. But then the Great Depression hit....and people decided not to pick back up on it. Now it is just rotten....

It took awhile, but Minneapolis did put in a light rail system from downtown to the airport/mall of america. Its has exceeded ridership expectations projected for 5 years from now. Now plans are underway to expand the rail system to have a route between Minneapolis and St Paul, and possibly a couple longer ones that would go to St. Cloud and Duluth.

[palilover 1]

ah..you guys are indeed correct on the rail. I think they tried to implement something of a rail system but it went downhill. I know in Cincinnati, they wanted to get somewhat of a light rail system similiar to what Cleveland has. For cities in Ohio, you do not need something huge but decent enough so it does not take you 2 hours to get across the city by bus. But then the Great Depression hit....and people decided not to pick back up on it. Now it is just rotten....

It took awhile, but Minneapolis did put in a light rail system from downtown to the airport/mall of america. Its has exceeded ridership expectations projected for 5 years from now. Now plans are underway to expand the rail system to have a route between Minneapolis and St Paul, and possibly a couple longer ones that would go to St. Cloud and Duluth.

Wow that is awesome! You know, you could take that idea nad run with it. The midwest could grow and expand in that same fashion and all connect each other. And then the cities could connect more easily. I think someone (with tons of money because it sure won't be cheap to set up or start) needs to give Greyhound and Amtrak huge competition., Especially Greyhound, I hate those guys:)

[Dan J 277]

ah..you guys are indeed correct on the rail. I think they tried to implement something of a rail system but it went downhill. I know in Cincinnati, they wanted to get somewhat of a light rail system similiar to what Cleveland has. For cities in Ohio, you do not need something huge but decent enough so it does not take you 2 hours to get across the city by bus. But then the Great Depression hit....and people decided not to pick back up on it. Now it is just rotten....

It took awhile, but Minneapolis did put in a light rail system from downtown to the airport/mall of america. Its has exceeded ridership expectations projected for 5 years from now. Now plans are underway to expand the rail system to have a route between Minneapolis and St Paul, and possibly a couple longer ones that would go to St. Cloud and Duluth.

Wow that is awesome! You know, you could take that idea nad run with it. The midwest could grow and expand in that same fashion and all connect each other. And then the cities could connect more easily. I think someone (with tons of money because it sure won't be cheap to set up or start) needs to give Greyhound and Amtrak huge competition., Especially Greyhound, I hate those guys:)

Light rail is nice for intercity trains with alot of stops. If they are going to make an impact on longer distance routes, we need mag lev or other high speed rail.

If the train takes just as long to get to somewhere as it does driving, people are still going to drive. If you can get there faster by rail, more people will probably go for rail.

[palilover 1]

Not if gas prices keep going up:) Well, that is the problem of amtrak I think. It STILL takes long to get anywhere. Haven't the Japanese built some sort of rail over there that is the fastest in the world right now?

[Heracles 417]

Not if gas prices keep going up:) Well, that is the problem of amtrak I think. It STILL takes long to get anywhere. Haven't the Japanese built some sort of rail over there that is the fastest in the world right now?

Yeah. Amtrak is a joke. Not only is it extremely expensive it is slow.

We need a high speed rail system which basically runs in parallel with the interstates and so forth.

[LoriLawless 0]

Charlotte just very recently put in a rail system. Yeah, a little behind, but better late than never.

[Heracles 417]

Actually, you're wrong. Most of the useful railways have been ripped up. Many are now bicycle/walking paths. By useful I mean railways that went through cities, near high employment areas. The Monon railway through Indianapolis (and where I live; Greencastle) is a perfect example. It's now the Monon Trail - a bike and walk way. This has happened in many cities across the country. "Rails to Trails" isn't just an Indiana group....

Interesting. They are building more rail and light rail back home in Melbourne. The bike paths are also going strong and are usually run parallel to the rail lines, amongst other places there.. They are called rail trail.

They have hundreds of miles of bike trails there. I have taken a few of them myself. Quite scenic and fun..

[Teacher Mark 53]

Not if gas prices keep going up:) Well, that is the problem of amtrak I think. It STILL takes long to get anywhere. Haven't the Japanese built some sort of rail over there that is the fastest in the world right now?

Yeah. Amtrak is a joke. Not only is it extremely expensive it is slow.

We need a high speed rail system which basically runs in parallel with the interstates and so forth.

We sure do! Here are a couple of options for the construction:

Or

Edited April 23, 2008 by WideAwakeInTheUSA

[Heracles 417]

You ever heard of the "Death Railway". Where allied POW built railway in Thailand. Spanned over 400km through the jungle.

Edited April 23, 2008 by Boo-Yah!

[Teacher Mark 53]

You ever heard of the "Death Railway". Where allied POW built railway in Thailand. Spanned over 400km through the jungle.

Yeah, I've heard of that. The Japanese were extremely brutal in their treatment of P.O.W.'s.

I agree that we need a rail system, but we are a very long way from being able to accomplish that. We are having trouble keeping up with the highway system as it is. I guess something could evolve from the current systems in major metropolitan areas. That's essentially how the Interstate system evolved. We're looking at at least a century though, unless something like the W.P.A. or C.C.C. were revived. I can't see that happening in America today though. We're too soft.

Edited April 23, 2008 by WideAwakeInTheUSA

[Ursa Tripudio 2]

You ever heard of the "Death Railway". Where allied POW built railway in Thailand. Spanned over 400km through the jungle.

Certainly, anyone who has studied WWII should know about this.

I want to get away from railroads and mention something related to increased gas prices in the future. (It may have been discussed earlier, I haven't read all 8 pages of this topic.)

We are at peak oil production. (Google: Hubbard Peak) No matter what we do or how much money is spent trying to increase production, it won't happen. Additionally, as the easy to reach oil continues to be depleted, we will become increasingly reliant on oil from more difficult (and much more expensive) to extract resources (which will also contribute the decrease in production).