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Life with gasoline at $20 a gallon
Return to BlogOr $6 or $8 or $10…what would it mean to you? Most of us would probably prefer to ignore those thoughts, but Christopher Steiner gave it some thought, enough thought for a book described in yesterday’s article in the Chicago Sun Times. The author of the article described $20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better as “surprisingly optimistic”, and Steiner’s examples are, indeed, rose-colored. He envisions a world with better public transit, reduced obesity, and revitalized urban cores, but also surburban ghettos, prohibitively expensive travel, and the end of “big box” shopping.
How do you see a future of ever-increasing gas prices? Is the glass half full, half empty or is that even the question? Perhaps the question, instead, is what will we do with the remaining contents of the glass?
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Higher gas prices mean higher operating costs for MetroLink. Too bad Metro has worked against the best, healthiest and least expensive option, bike paths along the Extension.
In Amsterdam, nearly 60 percent of all trips are made on bicycles. More than 38 percent of residents use them daily to get to work edging out motorists as the most populous commuting crowd. The city’s bike-friendly planning has put two-wheelers at the top of the transportation pecking order.
“It’s the quickest way to move around in the city, even more than a car or public transit,” said Ria Hilhorst, top bike planner for Amsterdam’s Dienst Infrastructuur … no kidding. We are wasting our time and precious dollars until our pecking order is supportive of sustainable, healthy and inexpensive alternatives.
Amsterdam is 90 percent “bike friendly,” according to Hilhorst, boasting a whopping 400 kilometers of protected bike lanes — not merely painted lines as in Brooklyn, but dedicated, shielded space for cyclists.
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/32/28/32_28_amst_bikes.html