Gas Crisis? I Can't Tell!

The talk radio and news radio stories keep announcing how people are changing their driving habits because gas costs too much. Well, I can't tell. In the DC area, gridlock continues. Even on non-rush hour times, there are just as many cars on the roads as when gas costs were half today's prices.

Perhaps this area will hold on to our gas-gosling habits longer because we are (suposedly) more affluent then other parts of the country. Or, could it be that there are more selfish people living in the DC metro area per capita than elsewhere? Whatever the reason, I haven't noticed any changes.

My own gas consuming behavior hasn't changed despite my keen awareness and excessive knowledge (ha) of the economical and ecological damage being done. At least I have someone else to blame for this...

I live in an area where there is NO public transportation. If I were to give up my car, I would have to walk or ride my bike a minimum of 3 miles to get to the closest bus stop. I probably won't bike because there's no place to lock up at the bus stop, which is in a fairly deserted area. Now that I've gotten on the bus, I'd be taken to another bus stop to switch lines. Then, that second bus would take me to the metro/subway - but it's the wrong line to get me to work. So, next I commute via subway to a hub station and transfer lines. Then finally, I get to the station where I work and I walk to my building. I actually haven't done this, but I estimate this would take me nearly 2 hours to complete. Perhaps less, but definitely no less than 1.5 hours. I get to work via car in 20 minutes.

So, which transportation option has the smaller carbon footprint? Doesn't one 4 cylinder car leave a smaller footprint than two buses and two subway trains? Especially if I keep my car well tuned?

I don't know that any of this accurate. But this is one case where I will be selfish and continue to drive myself. When I factor in the loss of personal time (of which I am already at a deficit), I'm not willing increase the time it takes to get to and from work, nor to mention the burden of using public transportation - dealing with people, fighting for seats, using aging and broken fare card equipment, broken escalators, hot subway conditions, the strain of carrying your possessions, and the danger factor.

I hope this exercise demonstrates why people here aren't doing more to cut down on their consumption of gasoline. I blame the urban planners and elected officials here for not getting us better public transportation options. Oh yeah, these are the same people who are responsible for all the over-development in this area. Shame on them for being inept at their jobs. However, we ultimately can only blame ourselves for making bad voting choices and for not being vigilante about their actions (or lack of).

Sorry, there's no simple, simple answer to this problem except to pick up and move to an area that's been better managed. That may not be a bad idea.