Economics of Stupidity
As many of you know, I frequently take the train part of the way to work, riding my bike the rest of the way. If I took the train all the way from Cambridge to Acton, it would be $13.50/day, which comes out to roughly $270 (or a monthly pass for $235). I usually save some money by biking part of the way, but it still comes out to $10/day, or roughly $200.
Now, my gashog of a car gets 26 miles to the gallon when driving through traffic (32 highway). As we all know, cars are evil and they murder bicyclists and destroy the planet, so I prefer to avoid driving it. That being said, some days I need to be at work, for whatever reason, before the train can get me there, and I don't want to leave the house at 6am. It is 19 miles to work by the fastest route, which comes out to 38 miles round trip, or about 760 miles per month if I did it every day. This comes out to around $80/month in gasoline.
How can cars, these horrible forces of destruction, be allowed to cost less than the train, which is such an efficient way to move people and freight? And it's not just by a little, it's by a factor of about 2.5. That's ridiculous.
I hadn't realized before this morning how insidious cars are. I think I should write my congressmen and ask them to put a 100% tax on gasoline, the proceeds of which should go to public transit. In this way, public transit costs can be brought down, the MBTA can be helped out of its debt, and people will have some encouragement to get their damned bikes out of the basement!
HOW IS THERE SO LITTLE OUTRAGE ABOUT THIS!?
Now, my gashog of a car gets 26 miles to the gallon when driving through traffic (32 highway). As we all know, cars are evil and they murder bicyclists and destroy the planet, so I prefer to avoid driving it. That being said, some days I need to be at work, for whatever reason, before the train can get me there, and I don't want to leave the house at 6am. It is 19 miles to work by the fastest route, which comes out to 38 miles round trip, or about 760 miles per month if I did it every day. This comes out to around $80/month in gasoline.
How can cars, these horrible forces of destruction, be allowed to cost less than the train, which is such an efficient way to move people and freight? And it's not just by a little, it's by a factor of about 2.5. That's ridiculous.
I hadn't realized before this morning how insidious cars are. I think I should write my congressmen and ask them to put a 100% tax on gasoline, the proceeds of which should go to public transit. In this way, public transit costs can be brought down, the MBTA can be helped out of its debt, and people will have some encouragement to get their damned bikes out of the basement!
HOW IS THERE SO LITTLE OUTRAGE ABOUT THIS!?