<p>Gas in NJ is 3.50 a gallon. This is insane. I remember the good old days when gas was 87 cents a gallon.</p>
<p>So $5.00/gal in Europe is okay and $3.50/gal here is insane? You need to take an economics course or apply to schools with a lower status. The price is not what is insane......the lack of money to develop other sources of energy is what is insane. The price of gas is directly relative to those who want it. China and India are now wanting the same things Americans want and they are gonna pay more than you are willing to pay......there are more of them and they are by and large about to kick americans into the 22nd century.</p>
<p>hazmat, chill. By "insane", I was simply noting the high prices we have to pay for gas today compared to what we paid years ago.</p>
<p>I guess I personally have always thought we paid incredibly cheap prices.....the rise in price is no surprise to me. It still seems cheap to me compared to the rest of the world and I pay 3X the gal to go to a movie......how cheap is that? I don't understand all of the whining. Moan if you will but you will get no sympathy from me. Americans are fickle and funny about this stuff. We drink unlimited amounts of beer/soda and it costs much more than gas. One beer costs more than a gallon of gas so I cannot hear any of the complaining.</p>
<p>Yeah, you're right about that hazmat.</p>
<p>I bet most average Americans never think about how much money they'd save by buying less soft drinks, etc. and eating less... and healthier.</p>
<p>Check out the conditions is Charlotte, North Carolina:
1) Prices are hovering around $3.70 a gallon and getting higher.
2) So many gas stations have closed that you burn what gas you have left trying to find one. Literally.
3) My school system (CMS) has had to cancel all field trips and completely ban all middle school sports to save gas. </p>
<p>Pretty bad, eh?</p>
<p>Well, in Europe they have been paying upwards of $5.00 per gallon for quite a while. We lived in Italy during the 90s and that's what we paid for gas then. As a matter-of-fact, there were many "bombola" cars which were run by propane. Not a coincidence that the first syllable is "bomb." We saw many burning along the side of the road. </p>
<p>Also, most Italians had a bag, similar to an IV bag, in the back of their car with gas in it. Fun times!</p>
<p>I think that two of the reasons that Americans do not adopt the European style of public transportation is the lack of developed networks and image associated with riding the bus.</p>
<p>I live in Massachusetts. The T is good to us, but it's old and needs improvement. Luckily, a lot of parts, including some distant, off-the-beaten road locations, of the state is accessible to us by the T and local buses. For a lot of states, that's not the case. The Bus routes are not as developed to cover a wide range of area. It gets to be an inconvenience. As we all know, inconvenience do not equal popularity among residents. </p>
<p>Public perception looks down on those who ride the bus. It indicates that these people can't afford a car and their economic and societal class is below average. I don't know if others notice when people make those judgements, but I do. What are one of the first things Americans buy when they have a stable income? A car. It's as if those city buses, especially in places were buses are not the source of transportation, are for the poor working class.</p>
<p>Of course there is social opinion about riding a bus in the US. The suburban attitude developed that.....maintains that and as long as the suburban dollar holds out the attitude prevails. The reason Americans don't have public transport is because the prevailing attitude is that there is no need and thus suburbanites won't vote to fund a system. This attitude has stifled funding research also. Americans will have a wake up call but as gas prices come down the attitudes will once again prevail. Whining and complaining are the American way......it is sad but I have become entertained watching the superiority erode while the suburbanites remain ignorant.....it is almost priceless. The generation of narcisissistic children will be caught short.</p>
<p>actually... petrol is over 6 euro a gallon here. That's close to $8. So stop giving out, because you still have it really cheap compared to us.</p>
<p>apparently the US is still not traveled enough to have first hand knowledge of pricing and lifestyle in other countries. I agree about the pricing and availability in Europe.......Americans are just not aware.</p>
<p>Another major factor is that europe has a really well developed rail network. In the 50's airlines and roads got the hold on the federal budget, while our rail lines died a slow death. I agree with hazmat. Its better we begin to face this problem now rather then when we get really close to the wire.</p>
<p>Hazmat, you think that gas prices will come down? I'm talking about in the long-term, not the next few months after pipelines and refineries are repaired in the South.</p>
<p>looking at the prices of the oversized SUV's i have a feeling the owners arent worrying as much as the rest of us about the skyrocketing gas prices</p>
<p>Cadillac Escalade ESV (2006) - $58,805 - $70,175
Hummer H2 SUT (2006) - $53,085</p>
<p>and keep in mind a large majority of owners have multiple cars</p>
<p>Mekrob....well if you consider that Bush released crude and the cartel has released some one has to consider that refinery production will begin on heating fuel....so it may stabilize for a short time but the problem is the production capacity. I don't see if coming down much and once our local problem of refinery capacity will be offset by increased demand in the market place. The problem originally was lack of capacity to crack methane, still is and the greater problem is increased demand in India, China for the same product Americans use. Cars are in demand in those markets and roads are under massive construction: ashpalt is a petroleum products. Folks are thinking of gas/oil etc but we use many petroleum based products.</p>
<p>que: worried as much or not. The market determines price and it is always the case that the "have mores" don't suffer as much while paying higher prices whether it be food, fuel or health care. I mean how much do you personally worry about the price of diamonds or gold each day? Probably not too much.</p>
<p>i do have a problem with the big huge suv's. i don't have a problem with the small economical ones. my dad has a small 4wd SUV which gets 28 mpg. That's better than my moms car, which gets about 25 or 26. my car gets 33.. so my parents have been taking my car around everywhere and just paying me for the gas, because it gets the best gas milage out of all of them. gas is anywhere from 3.19-3.69 here for regular. i think that if you have enough money for a 40k car then paying 3.70 for gas shouldn't be a problem. It doesn't matter if gas is up to $10/gallon.. i'll still be filling my gas tank up to go to work.</p>
<p>At least the transportation system in Europe has enough gas! Charlotte doesn't even have enough gas to run a lot of its buses (including school buses!). Plus, the transportation system is poorly developed and not very safe (unless you're already downtown). There are a lot of people that commute from surrounding areas, and public transportation is not an option.</p>
<p>You can't compare the American public trans. system to Europe.</p>
<p>Sure you can compare Europe and the US and we fail. I can compare them just as I can compare the other similarities.....</p>
<p>Hey, it went up to $2.65 here in Alaska. Dang! </p>
<p>Seriously, I do object to an early poster calling SUV drivers "murderers" and lacking in common sense. Perhaps people that generalize should be flogged. Oops, here comes the noodle...</p>
<p>European Transit systems are generally very well subsidized by the National Government. Here, there is no uniformity, many states are unwilling or unable to put money into developing mt. Amtrak, like many government agencies, is underfunded and poorly managed.</p>