depends on what you mean by good.


while yes, most major cities here have good quality public transportation, they do have some problems.

Here in canberra, unless you live near one of the interchanges or live near where two bus routes get close to each other, you need to wait an hour between buses in off-peak time. Which means that unless you live at the halfway point of the route, you could be better off walking if you have just missed the bus. (but this is a minor complaint).

Sydney however, you get some big problems if a station has to close for a reason (like when liverpool closed due to a fatality on the tracks a few weeks ago when I went to sydney for the day) it means that you need to do transfers. This causes problems if you live on the outskirts of town and only have one major train route to take you home, and during peak, the buses are pretty much useless in town, and the monorail and light rail are only useful for travel within the CBD.

But, I do get your point.

Every public transit system goes to **** if a station has to close down. It happens everywhere. That's not what Lee meant, by any means.

American Public transportation in most places BLOWS.

Something like 2/3s of all American rail riders are in NYC.

this.

You realy need to get some fuel efficiency laws. Because when you have a great majority of vehicles that have low efficieny compaired to other NON-hybrid vehicles, then something is wrong.

IMO, if someone chooses a gas guzzler, and is perfectly able to afford (and without affecting their transportation needs (e.g. dont have lots of things to take kids to, and need lots of room in the car)) a far more fuel efficient car, then realy, they should not complain about how much money they spend.

They can complain all they like about the actual price, but they made the choice themselves to get the gas-guzzler, so their personal spending is entirely their own fault.

That was kinda my point, stations having to close down is basicly the worst thing that happens to the public transportation system in sydney.

>.> <.<

I give you my sympathy for having such crappy public tansportation systems there.

That's not true, it only goes to **** if it's a large station that deals with more than one line.

Fixed.



Even if you have an efficient vehicle, gas costs still rose drastically. I remember the first time it took more than $20 to fill my Corolla...gas station at the corner of NW 16th Blvd and 43rd St in Gainesville, FL. It wasn't that long ago...

Brute forcing fuel efficiency ratings is a bad idea, as there are legit uses for vehicles that get low mileage. All over America thousands of idiots are learning a valuable lesson about buying impractical vehicles for the sake of image. If this hurts those people, it just makes the high prices I pay seem a little less bad.

My sister did the right thing by selling off her Infinity FX 35. That thing required premium and was like 17 MPG. My dad has a Dodge Ram 3500. But he is an electrical contractor. He needs heavy duty vehicles. His gf has an Expedition that she is desperately wanting to offload. I told her about gas two years ago. But yeah, I point and laugh at all those lifted F250s that cost $150 to fill up. I've always had a fuel efficient car. I think my current car is the lowest efficient I've ever owned (22/27 MPG). Of course I romp on the gas pedal so that hurts efficiency. Although it'd be sweet if I can get 30 MPG going 95 MPH :p

Newer Corvettes are known to get 32mpg doing 80+..

It just seems to me that the average American is just going to have to adapt and live a little more like us dirty Europeans (smaller more efficient vehicles, doing something about suburban sprawl, more inner city apartment living, increased political pressure to improve public transport and so on). Sorry guys.

Ever been to the US? Do you have any idea how big this country is, and how many people do not live/work anywhere near a city?

I've been to the US and Canada, heck I'm a Canadian citizen; I'm well aware of the freakin' hugeness of your nation. You'll never be able to change the distance from one city to another but living in higher densities close into the city will reduce the number of miles spent travelling to and from work each day. Just because you have lots of space doesn't mean you have to live in detached houses with sizeable plots around them.

People will start living closer to their place of work. Property developers will recognise the new market for cheap, high density housing. The car industry will and (to my knowledge) already is marketing vehicles based on fuel consumption. More people living close together in the city will increase the demand for public transport and will make such schemes more viable at least within each city.
It won't be immediate and people will be stretched in the meantime but it's exactly these kinds of changing economic pressures that cause such changes in how we live.

You assume that everyone works in "the city". Visit northern NH sometime. There aren't any cities.

making people live denser is not an option in America

plain and simple

No f- that...

we just need to drill our own oil.. gas prices problem solved

As I recall, that's something the Republicans have been trying to do for the last seven or eight years. The Democrats have shut them down at every turn, unfortunately.

try 15-20 years.

I used to do that. Got 26-28 mpg in my car. I've made a very conscious effort to slow down on the freeway, keep off the gas pedal from a stop, even drafting behind big rigs when possible. I'm getting 32-34 mpg now.

Why? If fuel prices become extortionate won't that be a necessity?