Someone else has more clearly stated the same thoughts that have been running through my mind since the price of gasoline started going up. Cities and towns all across the fifty states had better begin now the process of developing alternative means of transportation because our national love affair with the automobile is about to smash head-on with reality.
Gas prices are going up because the world’s supply of oil is diminishing. It’s a fact, accept it or not. Oil is after all a finite commodity, but then as this author makes clear, we always knew that. This is not theory. This is not someone’s doomsday scenario.
I’ve been thinking about this issue because of the fact that I live in New York City, where we have a mass transportation system that runs 24/7/365 and which can take you just about anywhere for $2.00. Most of the 8 million inhabitants of this city don’t have to deal with rising gas prices, unless we rent a car on the weekend to get out of town.
But I know we are the exception, not the rule. Practically everywhere else in America, there are cities surrounded by suburbs with highways connecting the two; long commutes to jobs or entertainment venues; shopping centers located outside of inner city areas inconveniencing those without a means of personal transportation, in short, a complete dependence on the automobile to get around. In recent years many communities, including my own hometown and other cities I’ve lived in upstate New York, have spent federal transportation money on widening highways, adding access roads, and building parking facilities to aid the commuters. Wrongheaded thinking.
This is Economics 101 Gas prices will only go up because the supply is only going down. Oil reserves will not replenish themselves. Even alternative energy sources will not be enough to meet the demand for our current leveling of driving. And what automakers are mass producing cars with alternative energy in mind anyway? None.
Renewed and increased expenditures for Amtrak and the rail trainsportation infrastructure, development of electric-powered light rail commuter lines and intra-city trolley and electric bus systems, even wider use of and public accommodation for the personal bicycle should all become part of our thinking. Politicians and other decision-makers who aren’t even raising the topic of transportation alternatives, aren’t really planning for the future.