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Are gas prices changing your behavior? AKA "F--- this, I'm getting a bike."
jmdbcool
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm writing a paper for an English class about whether or not high gas prices are actually causing people to change their behavior, in how much they drive, et cetera.
So, how about it? Are you taking less road trips or joyrides? When that friend who lives across town asks you to come and hang out, do you automatically think about how much the drive is going to cost? Have you started using public transportation / cycling / walking more, to work or to school? How has expensive gas affected you?
NOTE: I'm less interested in the debate over how to fix gas prices, or fighting urban sprawl, and so on. I just want to know if the high cost has made you or someone you know change their daily lives. Or, if not, then when; what's the "breaking point"? How expensive can gas get before you have to make a change?
My story:
I live only 3 miles from my community college. I used to drive there 5 times a week. Around when gas hit $3.50, I realized I could save some money if I rode a bike there. I hadn't owned a bike or even rode one since high school (4 years ago), but eventually I went ahead and bought a cheap-but-decent $100 bike, and I've been riding it to school since then. I also want to get a basket mounted on the back, so I can carry groceries and stuff, and my bike can completely replace my car for short trips. I'm in better shape physically, and already almost made the cost of the bike back in money that would otherwise have been spent on gas.
Your input is very much appreciated.
So, how about it? Are you taking less road trips or joyrides? When that friend who lives across town asks you to come and hang out, do you automatically think about how much the drive is going to cost? Have you started using public transportation / cycling / walking more, to work or to school? How has expensive gas affected you?
NOTE: I'm less interested in the debate over how to fix gas prices, or fighting urban sprawl, and so on. I just want to know if the high cost has made you or someone you know change their daily lives. Or, if not, then when; what's the "breaking point"? How expensive can gas get before you have to make a change?
My story:
I live only 3 miles from my community college. I used to drive there 5 times a week. Around when gas hit $3.50, I realized I could save some money if I rode a bike there. I hadn't owned a bike or even rode one since high school (4 years ago), but eventually I went ahead and bought a cheap-but-decent $100 bike, and I've been riding it to school since then. I also want to get a basket mounted on the back, so I can carry groceries and stuff, and my bike can completely replace my car for short trips. I'm in better shape physically, and already almost made the cost of the bike back in money that would otherwise have been spent on gas.
Your input is very much appreciated.
jmdbcool on
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The only thing that worries me is that it is like 90 degrees around here, and I'm in sales, so appearences are, obviously, important and I don't want to come to work smelling to high heaven, and dripping with sweat.
Everyone I know doesn't believe me that I do this and I DO IT ANYWAY.
Also, when I commission in the AF, I'm getting my Prius and getting as far away from the states as far as possible. All commissioning Lts either get married or get a car. I'll take the car.
As far as the general population goes- I think you'll see a short surge in more fuel-efficient vehicles, and then nothing. The same thing happened when it crossed $3 a gallon.
And it's not. For now.
I also find I bike a lot more when I have something to do in town. (ie. groceries, getting beer, going to a friend's)
Granted, if I wasn't poor I wouldn't give a damn.
~900km round trip, one 60L tank of gas = 14km/L = ~33MPG.
Not bad for a '92 Buick eh?
And the mileage seems to be loads better than a car. There's just the small issue of dying in an accident. I hate LA.
I just got my license a year ago and it's not even worth driving anymore, so I mostly try to carpool, or walk. I definitely drive differently, in that I coast a lot more which pisses off all the cars behind me because I really don't feel like speeding to a red light.
NNID: Hakkekage
Isn't Canada's gas pretty cheap too? The last time I looked, around New Brunswick it was about $1.25.
Its about $1.30 per liter or higher here in Edmonton. Which equals $4.78 USD per gallon.
Its fucking cheaper in Toronto... and they refine gasoline in Edmonton.
However, I have slightly changed my driving habits, in that I will be more resistant to taking a drive to do something for pleasure. I have more often than normal, chosen not to go meet up with some friends for a brief meal if it means a 30 minute round trip.
Damn me and my inability to convert currency. We're at $4.10 in my area so that'd be a step backward.
The last time I drove, gas was $1.34 a gallon where I live in New York. If I went to New Jersey it was still possible to find it for $0.89-$0.99 a gallon, with the max being around $1.10. This was for regular unleaded. I remember not even using the car for myself that much, I would just ferry people around - like friends and family members - and I remember thinking back then how stupid I was for spending 20 bucks every few days to fill up my Ford Taurus, just to get hammered with requests to take people places and be a "designated driver" and all that shit.
Now it's like $4.30 a gallon. And all my old concerns still exist. There's pretty much no way I'm going to get a car now. I live near New York City and do most of what I do there so it's not a huge deal but yes, if gas wasn't so expensive I would most likely get or would have gotten a car by now. There are other reasons suppressing my desire to drive, like the fact that most people on the road are dangerously selfish pricks with a sense of unnecessary urgency and undeserved entitlement and the fact that I really don't want to be relied on to taxi anyone else around and also that I really just don't need to drive (NYC has everything I need) but, still, I think I would like to have a car eventually but gas prices are really dissuading me from making a real move toward acquiring a vehicle.
Especially since I was considering driving it from Toronto to Alberta.
After gas hit $3, I've just sort of become numb to the increase. We're frugal enough with our spending that we're not really hurting for money yet, so whether it takes $35 to fill the tank or $45 isn't affecting our life.
We're trying to pay off our credit cards though, and as soon as that's done, I know our first big purchase is going to be a hybrid.
I just try and drive at the optimal speed to max my MPG as much as possible and touch the brake as little as possible
Though since my friends are scattered across the metro-Boston area, I always have to think about whether I will sit at home alone or go have fun with my friends... each trip costs $$$
Also, Bionic, isn't it much better just to get the smallest most fuel efficient non-hybrid you can? Because right now the premium on hybrids is a lot.
Hybrids wouldn't really help anyone in my family since we mostly drive highway and not much in stop and go traffic
My situation was similar. A few summers ago, when gas sat roughly at $2.35, at times it would sail steadily up and up, cresting at $3.00, and making me twinge every time I drove by a gas station. Then it would plummet all the way back down. Once it even went down to $1.80. Now that it's surpassed my mental "red zone" of $3.00 I've just stopped caring as much.
Well, like I said, we have a Geo Metro right now that gets 36 miles to the gallon, which is about as small and fuel effecient a non-hybrid you can get. But my Geo is a '99, and my wife's Grand Prix is an '89, so we're due for a new car sometime soon anyway. It's gonna be another year or so before we get our last two cards paid off, and I figure by then there'll be more than a handful of hybrids on the market as well as a few used ones we can take our pick from.
Also I'm going to start substituting my bike for my car whenever feasible.
It hurts me (even though I can afford it ) to pay $40 to fill up a tank that used to cost $25ish
I get that 45 MPG on a commute that goes 3 miles surface streets > 16 miles highway > 4 miles airport. Highway mileage on a hybrid is still better than most other cars.
That said, yeah if you're not already in the market for a new car (I was), the cost savings doesn't work out yet. Unless you're driving something with truly horrid MPG.
If your budget is REALLY being strained by gas, its helpful to know how much each mile is costing you. In my case its $0.10 a mile. Puts things back into perspective a bit.
If driving wasn't something I enjoyed though, I'd definately be cutting back. I view it in the same light as paying to go to the movies.
Although I have started paying attention to my gas mileage and started playing the "let's keep it above 46 mpg" game. There's a screen that shows you the mpg you get every 5 mins, plus a counter that you can reset whenever. I drive a little less aggressively now.. I used to be at around 42.
And I must move closer to it so that I can take less public transportation.
I used to drive my car around everywhere, thanks to the inaccessibility of my uni and the fact that all my friends were high school friends who all lived at least half an hour into the giant mess of suburbia that I live in. Now, not so much.
Personally, I'd pay even $6 dollars a gallon if it meant it would keep more people off the roads. Fuckin hate traffic more than I hate gas prices.
Every time I hear about SARS/Bird Flu/etc I get excited because it might kill off a third of the population and get some cars off the road so I might be able to go the goddamn speed limit WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THE PASSING LANE GOING 50
I do that every flu season.