What Will You Do If We Run Out of Gas?
I’m glad gas is getting so expensive — you heard me! Gas prices are finally spanking us into thinking twice about our habits.
I own a car, and I drive to work every day. In fact, my #1 complaint (and sometimes my only complaint) about my job is that it is situated far enough outside of town that it’s not reasonable to bike every day. I’ve biked to work a few times and it’s around 15 miles each way — 30 miles total, which makes for 2 hours of riding. My company has a bike rack behind the building, but there are no showers, so the weather has to be perfect. I am totally willing to ride in the rain, sleet, and snow as long as I can change clothes and look professional at work.
Although I would love to ride to work every day, a two hour commute is not practical. It’s not a bike-friendly route either, no bike lane, no shoulder, crazy country roads with blind curves and people drive 50 mph, so I can only ride to work during Daylight Savings. Even then, it’s still kind of dangerous. And that’s coming from an ex-messenger. Seriously, if I got involved in a hit and run (not unlikely in the country, with no witnesses) no one would find me, and there’s often no cell phone coverage out there. It’s pretty dangerous for a girl by herself I’m sad to say — sometimes NYC is safer than ol’ Virginny.
All that said, I am prepared to ride my bike to work every day if/when we run out of gas, or if the prices get too ridiculous. I suspect we’ll at least have a temporary bump in prices as Rita heads towards all of those refineries in Texas. I’m interested in hearing from you, do you have a plan? What will you do if we run out of gas?
If you’re interested, keep checking back here at Fixpert — I’m going to be writing a lot more about our country’s dependency on oil and how that relates to city planning, infrastructure, disparity between economic classes, and our society and culture as a whole.
September 23rd, 2005 at 8:43 am
Hella yeah! I’m all for gas prices going up (especially ’cause I don’t drive right now). Public transportation could get more funding, businesses could become more bike-friendly, and people could get more exercise (heaven knows they need it).
My plan? Biking, walking, public transit. Alternative fuels are also becoming more available, and public transit is usually an early adopter. In any case, I’m not too worried about my own situation. I worry about people who live way out in the boondocks — what do they do?
September 25th, 2005 at 1:31 pm
I drive a lot! I don’t know why though. Ironically, I think most of my non-work driving is getting to and from Mountain Bike trails.
Do I like to spend $40 to fill up my car? No. Are gas prices making me reconsider everyday choices? Yes. Do I feel superior because I don’t drive an SUV? Yes. Do I feel even more superior when I can bring as much stuff in my Honda as the freak in the H2? Yes.
I am not going to bitch that I had to fill my car to take an awesome MTB/camping trip this weekend because that’s the price of fun, but I will carpool when I can, I will drive less aggressively to conserve petrol, I will drive without the AC if it’s a nice day outside, I will drive less in general.
To answer your question…If we run out of gas, I’ll ride more.
I don’t really commute to work. I should because it’s only 4-5 miles away. It’s a little akward becuase there is no straight shot and the drivers in town are dumb, careless and wreckless, but I should still ride.
I think I might need to get a fixxie to spark my interest in commuting. A new toy always helps to spark some love!
September 25th, 2005 at 7:25 pm
Thanks guys. James, you brought up a good point that I plan on writing a lot more about on this site — the fact that you would like to ride but the route is awkward and dangerous for you. Cyclist put a lot more at stake than drivers do in terms of their personal safety, so it’s up to bike & pedestrian advocates, and particularly city planners to give those not in cars priority.
I was saddened to see a man in a motorized wheelchair riding in the shoulder, in traffic this week because there were no sidewalks. I could go on about this quite a bit, but I’ll save it for some full blown posts. Thanks for your comments!