A gallon of gasoline is $3.95 today. In a couple weeks it will no doubt be over $4. It’s getting to the point that I can’t afford to drive anymore. Unfortunately, in Peoria, not driving leaves you with very few options.
There’s bicycling, as the paper profiled today. There are limitations to that, however. Winter (and other weather-related obstacles) comes immediately to mind. Proximity is another problem; depending on where you work or shop, it may simply be too far to reasonably bike. If it’s only moderately far, there’s the additional problem of showing up all sweaty — that may not be appropriate for certain destinations, like your job, for instance.
There’s walking, which is even more dependent on proximity. Pedestrians are further hampered by the poor condition and intermittency of sidewalks, if they exist at all.
Then there’s public transportation. This should be the preferred alternative to driving. Unfortunately, in Peoria the bus service is slow, infrequent, and often inconvenient. As I’ve stated before, “This isn’t all the bus company’s fault. Part of the problem is sprawl and lack of pedestrian infrastructure (e.g., sidewalks), which is a city planning problem. Just like sprawl puts a strain on police, fire, and snow removal service, it puts a huge strain on bus service.”
Nevertheless, with gas prices continuing to climb, Peoria is going to have to get serious about planning and providing infrastructure for alternative transportation methods. Otherwise, people are going to want to move someplace more sustainable, and people with options will.
I saw the $3.95 on the way in to work today.
Here’s my question: At what point is the price so high that politicians respond with price controls and other disasterous policies?
If you google around with terms like gasoline prices 1980 dollars you will find several sites that point out that today’s gas prices are about where they were in 1980-81 using CPI, GDP, minimum wage, etc. So we have had gas prices this “high” before and lived through it without drastic measures. I suppose will do the samething we did back then, grumble and fill-er up.
Let’s see, in 1980, a gallon of gas was $1.25, which works out to $3.27 in 2008 dollars, so it was actually less then than it is now. Also in 1980, the economy was in a recession and inflation was 13.5%. Not very comparable to today.
No one bring up the price of diesel. What would the sign say? All born?
I saw $1.35 (1980) and $3.31 (2008). So your right, that prices are “higher” than 1980-81, but not by much. Still, its nothing to quibble over. I’m not trying to compare the economy then and now. I’m just saying that gas prices as a bite in the old pocketbook have been in this neigborhood before, and we did not drastically change our habits. Although I don’t rember seeing SUV’s until the ’90s and I think you could still by an 8 cylinder car in 1980?
I about drove off the road today after seeing gas prices. Good holy lord. I’m definitely going to purchase a locking gas cap now!
The easiest way to spend less on gas is to use less gas. This doesn’t necessarily mean swearing off your car, though. We just need to be more efficient with the way we use our fuel. Some ideas:
– If possible, try taking the bus to work. CityLink is far from perfect, but even taking the bus to and from work once or twice a week could potentially save a tank of gas every month, depending on your commute.
– If the bus isn’t an option, you can always try carpooling with neighbors who work with you or close to you.
– Try “trip chaining”. If you have several errands to run (groceries, post office, getting gas, whatever), try to plan your route such that you can get them all done in one trip, rather than going out various times. Or try to stop on your way to/from work, if they’re on the way.
– Make sure your tires are properly inflated. A quick and easy way to get a few extra MPGs. Ditto with oil changes, your air filter, and tune ups.
– Slow down on the highway. On the interstate, 55mph is (supposedly) the most fuel-efficient speed to go. However, I’m someone who has a bit of a lead foot, and if you do too, use cruise control for better fuel economy. Gas is wasted when you accelerate and decelerate.
– Likewise, slow down when driving through downtown. Some of the signal lights are sequenced such that, if you go 25mph, you’ll get what’s known as a “green wave” — in other words, you’ll get a green light at each intersection. (Madison is sequenced as such headed upriver; Monroe is sequenced for traffic heading downriver.)
Like CJ said, there aren’t many other options other than driving around Peoria, so our best bet might be driving smarter.
Sterling, you hit the nail on the head. Inspite of high gas prices, people don’t want to take you suggestion. For example, based on distance and MPG it takes me about a gallon of gas a day to/from work. So thats $4.00 a day. The bus would be $2.00 a day. I will quite willingly pay the extra two bucks than deal with the problems of mass transit. As to car pooling – fuggetaboudit!! Slow down? What are you – a communist!
As long as Peoria’s so-called leaders are under the insane delusion that bicycles are a viable form of mass transit, nothing is going to get done. The rest of the country is taking steps to move away from dependence on the automobile, but not here. The Propaganda Star treats us to crackpot stories about how mass transit doesn’t work (the truth is, it’s booming everywhere it’s been tried) or we should all get a bicycle (check out Sunday’s edition of that rag). Bikes might work on nice days for a few able bodied people who live close to work, but I can just see a bunch of senior citizens going to get their groceries at Walmart on a bicycle. NOT HAPPENING FOLKS! We are not going back to the eighteenth century, as much as there are some aspects of that era that might be appealing, we live in the 21st. Century.
One tip Sterling forgot to mention is drafting… that’s right NASCAR style. If you can stay within a few inches of the vehicle in front of you the rear car will have to overcome significantly less wind resistance thereby improving mileage. Theres a great clip from “Days of Thunder” which explains this in a more interesting way, but I have neither a barely covered Nicole Kidman or sugar packets with me…
Well I’m a lead foot granny, but I don’t do it around town. I see all these big trucks with dual wheels and the big SUVs zipping past me only to get to the stop light one car in front of me. I don’t jack rabbit start. Also when I see the light turning red way up in front what’s the point of staying on the gas only to have to use more brakes to stop. If you lift off the gas a little by the time you get there its turned green again and you can continue smoothly without wasting gas. And then there is the guy who is at the head of the line waiting for the green light and he/she just can’t wait. They keep creeping further and further out in the road. Drives you nuts, they are also the same persons that tailgate you and will eat your back bumper if you happen to stop quickly. Living on one of the local highways I get to see the results of poor driving on a daily basis without ever leaving the house. We are blowing millions and millions of dollars on gas that is totally unnecessary. Until we either all win the lottery, or all get electric cars we are going to have to learn to drive more economically. We have no choice.
Quote:…… So thats $4.00 a day. The bus would be $2.00 a day. I will quite willingly pay the extra two bucks than deal with the problems of mass transit. As to car pooling – fuggetaboudit!! Slow down? What are you – a communist!”
Gas prices are not yet high enough for anyone to seriously change their driving habits.. Your comments said it all.
Gas was $3.69 in Galesburg today.
I’ve tried riding my bicyle to work. Peoria drivers have no tolerance or understanding of cyclists. The only way I would try riding to work again is if I were armed.
My husband and I talked about getting a motorized scooter. His grandpa used it and it still works. However, it’s not really appopriate for the highway, so it wouldn’t be much use to us unless we move closer to work… but maybe it’s an idea for some you!
I want a VESPA!!!
Quite frankly I can’t wait until gas is $10.00 a gallon. Maybe then our idiotic politicians will see that an autocentric city is STUPID and STRIP MALLS are even “STUPIDER” – you can se the George Bush coming out in me- I can make up words with the worst of them 🙂
George,
Sadly, I think it may have to go above $10/gallon before the stubborness about and hostility toward walking, biking and public transporation subsides. I see it daily here in Chicago from a lot of people even though we have fairly decent infrastructure for other modes of transportation. I have noticed many, many more people biking here on the north side and downtown over the last 18-24 months, But there are people up here who also still think that public thoroughfares should be for cars and cars only.
The world is changing- you are lucky- you are lead by Daley and he has more power due to the organization of the city with a strong mayor form of government.
Peoria is hampered by the city manager/council structure. Ardis is treading water and he is bogged down by the vapid heads of Nichting, Spears, Turner, and the egos of Jacob, Manning, Van Auken, and Montelonogo. Egos and Vapid heads – that sounds like a rock band. Perhaps they would consider going on tour…
The bus service in Peoria is atrocious, a joke at the best. No one is going to walk or ride a bike to work, so let’s quit fooling ourselves. Our governmental leaders on the national level have to ration gas, forcing us to buy and use less, causing the oil barons to loosen up the supply. We need some strong national leaders to open the reserves of oil in this country in order to show OPEC we mean business. Don’t we still have a local national leader in town?
George,
We have our fair share of problems up here Daley and Stroger. And our mass transit system doesn’t even come close to those in other world class cities (especially outside of this country) – but it should. I’m hopeful that things will improve both in Chicago and Peoria (we’ve moving there soon), but I think this process is going to be slow going.
The only efficient way to ration gas is by price. Hey, lets put this in perspective. Most of us drink a $4.00 cup of coffee while driving to work. Can we drink our coffee on the bus? Will the bus take us through the Starbucks drive thru? Didn’t think so.
dd,
Um, I admit I’ve never been on a Peoria bus, but I travel on public transporation regularly in Chicago and have done so in many other cities and countries where I have lived and traveled. Public transit commuters with coffee in hand are such a regular sight (myself included), that I’m completely baffled by your implication that they don’t exist, and that drinking coffee is so much more appropriate for driving that it is some sort of bar to using public transportation.
It actually is possible for someone to WALK to a coffee shop, get their coffee, and get on the bus or train. People who live in walkable neighborhoods and cities do it every day. With improved infrastructure and public transit, more people could do it in Peoria too.
p.s. You can get an actual (big) cup of coffee for about half the $4.00 you quoted. Call me a purist, but I would submit that many of the $4.00 concoctions at Starbucks, price and nutrionwise, fall into the category of dessert.
“Will the bus take us through the Starbucks drive thru? Didn’t think so.”
In a well laid out new urban environment, Starbucks would locate near a dedicated bus stop. There would be no ‘drive through’. The bus stop would nearly be outside the door.
Yes Peoria’s bus system needs a lot of work. Right now Citylink is poorly positioned to scale up significantly in ridership and not really marketing itself to middle class riders. Some of the needed reforms are going to have to come from Citylink but other parts like dedicated bus stops are going to have to be done with the help of the City of Peoria.
Dedicated bus stops… what do I mean by these? First off the bus should not be stopping at any and all corners and streets like it does today. There should be limited stops that are posted as bus stops. The bus should only stop at those stops. The number of dedicated stops should depend on potential ridership and walking distance between stops. The dedicated bus stops should have a pull off lane where the bus can park while passengers get on n off, without disrupting traffic flow. Every dedicated bus stop should have a shelter and sufficient signage to identify what routes stop there, where, and when they go. Dedicated bus stops become landmarks.
One good place for such a stop would be in the Sheridan Triangle. Last I looked it was omitted. Because the planning sessions are closed… there probably won’t be one. Big loss for the Sheridan Triangle.
Kramer and Mahkno, you make good points, but you missed mine, no doubt because of my futile attempt at humor. Your right. I don’t know if you can drink coffee on the bus or not, and your right about the nutritional value of starbucks concoctions. And I’m sure there are plans on the drawing board for walk-up windows at Starbucks. My point is that driving cars, alone, is such a deeply ingrained part of our culture. Asking us to take the bus, you might as well be asking us to compost our own bodily wastes. It might make sense, but it isn’t going to happen.
This all reminds me of a routine by Chris Rock (i think it was him). He was telling his daughter about Rosa Parks and how she refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. His daughter looked at him and said, “daddy, when did white people ride the bus.”
The Citylink website says that drinking from a covered container is allowed. Eating or drinking from an open container are not.
wacko’s “No one is going to walk or bike to work” is a bit of an overstatement. Maybe most people are not going to walk or bike to work but I walk to work and I know people who bike to work – and some of them live all the way in Dunlap.
kohlrabi beat me to it, but here’s the quote anyway since I went through the trouble of finding it:
🙂
It is a real tribute to CJ that this little blog has the full range of opinion, from wacky “left” to wacky “right”, and everything in between. If the establishment media had this kind of vigorous, thoughtful debate, it would go a long way towards motivating people to get involved and insist on better work from the School Board, the Park Board, the City, etc., etc. How about it? Regardless of where you are on the spectrum, isn’t it time we all demand the local media stop trying to shove the “party line” down our throats and open the floor to everybody?
Dedicated bus stops. Now that’s a new concept. Especially ones that have a bench and shelter. All over Peoria I see bus stop signs with no bench, no cover. People have to stand out there in the rain, snow, wind or summer heat with no protection. Many are infirm and have to stand long periods because of the erratic schedule of the buses. And for some getting up into the bus on the high steps is really difficult. Dedicated bus stops would be a tremendous improvement and might encourage others to ride the buses.
If you can walk or bike to work, chances are you are not using enough gas driving to work to impact your wallet much anyway.
SD,
No kidding… one day I was up on the far north side of town. There were three people waiting for the bus at a posted bus stop. Sidewalk? Nope. Bench? Nope. A tree in lieu of a shelter? LOL Nope. No.. they were standing in the bottom of a drainage ditch avoiding the water that collects there. That’s right the bus stop was a drainage ditch. From the curb it went straight down for the runoff. It looked a little degrading to be waiting there for lord knows how long for your ‘ride’.
No wonder no one wants to ride the buses in this town unless you absolutely have to.
“If you can walk or bike to work, chances are you are not using enough gas driving to work to impact your wallet much anyway.”
I save about a tank of gas a month by walking my kids to school and back. A good $60.
Quote: No one is going to walk or ride a bike to work, so let’s quit fooling ourselves.
A college educated professional working in downtown takes the bus from the Northmoor Rd area to downtown and back every work day. He has two cars, kids and a wife. He’s normal in every sense, except that he takes the bus to work. People do use the bus, and not just those from the gutter.
Contrarian,
Thanks for the laugh. Hilarious.
Thanks also for pointing out the fact that people with a car (even 2)actually take public transit (or walk or bike)on a regular basis. Some people seem to want to reject these ideas as all or nothing propositions.
I’ll bet this college educated professional is not so normal as you want us to believe. I’ll bet he’s a vegetarian, a recycler, a green voter, and listens to jazz on NPR (except when he is riding the bus).
Wait until US troops are pulled out of Iraq. If Iran instigates further trouble in a fragile Iraq and manages to install Shiite influence like Al-Sadr within Iraqi govt., thereby controlling the oil fields, then the US can expect to see $8/gallon gas at the pump within a few short years.
“I’ll bet he’s a vegetarian, a recycler, a green voter, and listens to jazz on NPR (except when he is riding the bus).”
So I would guess normal to be someone who eats meat daily and thinks Bob and Tom is hilarious?
Odd how you can pick things up like that from one posting.
Depending on how the Iranian situation develops, you may see $8/gal. gas before the year is out.
And Exxon will continue to record record profits… 11.9 Billion a quarter… sheesh!
When the price gets high enough, we’ll start drilling in Anwar and look how rich everyone will get then! (we will, of course, be exporting it to China and India to pay off our debt)
Anwar won’t do crap for the price. If Anwar were in full production today it wouldn’t make a difference in price. If we were to authorize drilling in Anwar today, by the time it was in production, demand will have far outstripped any benefits Anwar would generate. Sure the oil companies are excited about it. Maybe even the state of Alaska, for the revenues it would generate. They are the only ones who would see any direct meaningful benefit. The oil companies sure aren’t suffering for profits right now.
The people pushing Anwar the hardest are those that believe mineral extraction companies should be able to extract their products on public land wherever and whenever they want. It isn’t about helping the public.
There is far more oil to be had in conservation efforts. More fuel efficient cars would help but this is increasingly a bit of a strawman. Less sprawl would help enormously. Less packaging on products from stores. How is it Europeans can get by with far less oil per capita than Americans? How is it the Japanese can get by with far less oil per capita than Americans? The opportunities are abundant.
Mahkno,
Rising development in China and India and also the western world demands increasing energy supplies. Conservation efforts might slow the growth in demand but will not shrink it. Oil companies need to be allowed to drill in all areas where their are reserves. ANWAR isn’t the only one. There is no true alternative to petroleum-based gasoline and continuing to restrict the supply will only keep prices rising in the forseeable future.
Europe and Japan have extensive intercity rail passenger systems. Population density in Europe and Japan, limited land for highway and airport construction in Japan and greater dependence (than we) on oil imports by both has brought this about.
The USA (and Canada too) will probably have to fund extensive expansion of its intercity rail passenger network and ultimately the construction of dedicated HSR lines as well.
If you are going to compare 1980 dollars with 2008 for gas prices, you also need to do the same with income. What is minimum wage from 1980 compared to 2008? What is the cost of other items (necessities) in 2008 dollars? What is disposable income in comparable dollars?
How much disposable income is there for gas, food, housing, clothing, after everything else takes it bite?
How many of us are making three times what we did in 1980?
I lived in the Peoria area for 20 years and took the bus occasionally during that time. I use the bus a lot more in my new community, mostly due to high gas prices but also because the schedules are more convienient to me.
I also eat meat nearly every day, have generally conservative social and political views and tend to vote Republican. But, I like jazz and do occasionally listen to NPR. I’m not real conscientious about recycling though.
My point is that with gas prices going nowhere but up, using mass transit wherever possible makes good economic sense on the individual level as well as the community level, regardless of your political or social persuasion. You do not have to be dirt poor or a leftist “eco-freak” to ride the bus. What could be more “conservative” than trying to save money and avoid waste?
“Conservation efforts might slow the growth in demand but will not shrink it.”
Conservation can certainly reverse demand. It did in the late seventies for a few years, then oil supplies returned and the price plummeted. Many conservation efforts went out the window. On a per capita basis tho, we still use less than before the oil shock of the 70s. Now in the longer term that isn’t likely to hold because the U.S. population continues to increase and there is no sign of slowing in Asian growth.
That doesn’t make a case for tapping every oil field you can reach. The American way of life as has been known for the last 70 some years is unsustainable. There is not enough energy out there to support another 2-4 billion people wanting to live like Americans. We are going to see a fundamental change in how we live. Yeah we have more open land than Europe or Japan but that is increasingly going to be less of an asset. It won’t be cost effective to live or work in a sprawling fashion.
With increasingly limited supplies of oil it will become necessary by various means to use that limited supply for things that absolutely can only come from that raw material. Some of those uses will be of strategic value. Wasting them so that people can still live that American way of life fantasy will be foolish.
There is no case for tapping Anwar. Price alone is not sufficient. The rest of the industrialized world uses nearly half what we do per capita. HALF. 20 million barrels a day could be HALVED. And I know having lived over there, that Europeans are not as energy stingy as they could be. They dream of the American way of life too, thanks to our Media.
That is a huge number possible via conservation with fundamental changes in our lifestyle. With that HALF saved, we which we could conceivably nearly end our reliance on imports, and absolutely end our dependence on the middle east (11.5% comes from Saudi Arabia).
If the Europeans can actually live on half the oil per person that we do… surely we could match that or even do better. American ingenuity is the best in the world.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24757944/