Quote:
Originally Posted by rbrowning
I just looked up the UK fuel tax on Wikipedia and I see that they are paying $2.92 per US gallon just for tax. ... Do you really want that kind of tax on gas too?
...As far as being able to get around by public transport, to even utter those words must mean you are from an urban area that HAS public transportation. ...
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You make valid points. Fact is, I AM German.
I grew up in Vienna, Austria and went to University in northern England. It is a luxury to have a car there, but it does make some things - like grocery shopping - a lot more convenient.
It is also a fact that when I came to the US (Idaho actually) as an exchange student I fell in love with the sheer wide spaces of this country. People talk about the Autobahn and no speed limits, but I like to swoon about the thousands of miles that one can drive without ever leaving a country.
I actually argued that a massive public transportation network would NOT work in the US, because of the large open spaces. (If I didn't, I meant to say that.) So something has to give: does one want to live in an urban area with public transportation, or does one want to live in an open space where such a transportation system cannot be feasible? Suburbia only worked because gasoline was cheap and plentiful and driving in and out of towns was not a chore as it can be today.
If one wants to continue to live in an open space and work in a town, then one has to pay the price to do so. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
In a way the government is sponsoring a public transportation system by subsidizing gasoline. It only makes sense in a country where one does not even flinch when they are to drive 50 miles.
I drive a car that gets 35-38 mpg. I do not care if the price of gas goes up a dollar or two. That will only make a minimal impact on the bottom line for me. 11 gals @ $3 = $33, 11 gals @ $5 = $55
That is $22 more for every 400 odd miles. That just means I don't eat out once, or cancel my netfilx subscription and I have made up the cost. So in relative terms it gas is cheap here. But! When gas gets more expensive a 11 mpg truck driver will think twice before filling up 20 gallons every 220 miles.
The thing is this - higher gas prices force the population to reduce their gasoline consumption. If this is by driving less or by using less for the same distance is up to people. Or, another way to put it: The higher your mpg, the further you can live from a dense urban area.