A collection of random thoughts
About a week ago I took a taxi to Santa Barbara Airport from the Lucky Cab taxi company, whose fleet consists purely of Toyota Priuses. It was a pleasant trip, as the cab was new, the trip was quick and pretty inexpensive, and the driver was friendly and fun to talk to. We chatted about such things as his world travels and past careers as a Hollywood art director and set designer, and I left thinking that here was a person who clearly has had an interesting life, and who seemed to be driving a taxi just for the hell of it (he looked old enough to be retired).
Today I took a taxi back from the airport, but from a different taxi company. I immediately noticed that the fare meter was rising alarmingly quickly, and I asked the driver about it. He responded, "Oh, we had to up the fare, because gas prices are rising so quickly. Take a look." He then pointed at a passing gas station sign, where the "Premium" gas had just exceeded $5 a gallon (this is California after all). The total trip fare ended up being twice what it took to get to the airport in the first place.
I think Lucky Cabs gets the last laugh here. I doubt we can really blame anybody but ourselves for this, as experts had been saying for years that relying on gasoline was folly as the supply is finite and gas prices would inevitably rise. However I also understand that it's pretty easy to imagine that gas prices would stay low forever through boom times, what with federal subsidies staying as much as they are and with the most visible effects of global warming decades into the future.
Also, if I'm not mistaken our current gas prices are still nowhere near what Europe's have been for years. Maybe we'll finally get better public transportation/high speed rails here?
Today I took a taxi back from the airport, but from a different taxi company. I immediately noticed that the fare meter was rising alarmingly quickly, and I asked the driver about it. He responded, "Oh, we had to up the fare, because gas prices are rising so quickly. Take a look." He then pointed at a passing gas station sign, where the "Premium" gas had just exceeded $5 a gallon (this is California after all). The total trip fare ended up being twice what it took to get to the airport in the first place.
I think Lucky Cabs gets the last laugh here. I doubt we can really blame anybody but ourselves for this, as experts had been saying for years that relying on gasoline was folly as the supply is finite and gas prices would inevitably rise. However I also understand that it's pretty easy to imagine that gas prices would stay low forever through boom times, what with federal subsidies staying as much as they are and with the most visible effects of global warming decades into the future.
Also, if I'm not mistaken our current gas prices are still nowhere near what Europe's have been for years. Maybe we'll finally get better public transportation/high speed rails here?