How did I manage the Bus for 15 Years

[gturner]

[QUO
The cheapest rate I found for petrol in Australia today was $AUD1.12 per litre in Sydney (which is about $AUD4.27, or about $US3.80 a gallon gallon). In other places it is dearer. In Hobart it is $AUD1.31 per litre which ends up being around about $US4.41 litre.

*sighs*

Tasmania can't have but a couple of dozen cars because it's so remote.

As for fuel prices in the rest of Australia, it may seem cheap now but in the future bizarre mutants will wage war over single tanker trucks of it, with nice crossbow wielding girls sucking up to any paranoid anti-semitic control freak who can drive an 18-wheeler.

 

[Canadave]

What is the amount of tax on fuel in Australia? I have never been there so I don't know. Oz doesn't have a large population. I was mostly talking about Europe where gas is 8 bucks a gallon or more compared to 2.50 here in the US(3.78litres). There are outrageous prices for parking and things too in Europe.

The cheapest rate I found for petrol in Australia today was $AUD1.12 per litre in Sydney (which is about $AUD4.27, or about $US3.80 a gallon gallon). In other places it is dearer. In Hobart it is $AUD1.31 per litre which ends up being around about $US4.41 litre. As far as states go, Tasmania has the highest petrol prices though some remote areas of Australia probably have higher prices.

Parking in a council car park in Hobart (these figures are for the two car parks closest to the city centre)

first 90 minutes - free
next 30 minutes - $1
up to 3 hours - $3
up to 4 hours - $5
up to 5hours - $9
up to 6 hours - $12
up to 7 hours - $14
up to 8 hours $16
up to 9 hours - $18
up to 10 hours - $21

Overnight fee - $3

That sounds not too bad and we have to pay when we go downtown if we park in a parking garage, or we have to feed the parking meter. Most of the places I park it never costs a penny. I hate the idea of paying for parking unless that money goes to create more parking.

To be honest, I think that's kind of ridiculous. Parking spaces, despite what you might think, are actually a massive infrastructure investment, one that is heavily subsidized by most governments.

According to Donald Shoup, who's done research on the cost of parking, "the cost of all parking spaces in the U.S. exceeds the value of all cars and may even exceed the value of all roads." See here for more.

So even though you may hate the idea of paying for parking, it's still something that's done for a very, very good reason, and I'm fully in support of it.

 

[JonathonWally]

For the most part it is far more convenient to use mass transit in NYC than public transportation.

You mean subways vs buses?

 

[Mary Ann]

I grew up in Montreal and Toronto, both cities which have good, cheap(ish) public transport systems. I learned to drive in Toronto but I never drove downtown, though I drove to university (York) as taking public transit would have taken about 1 1/2 hours one-way.

The buses where I live now are stupidly expensive, so I drive to work. Two of my children have to take the bus to school, and while you can buy single children's tickets, the weekly and monthly passes are at adult rates only, so I pay £90 a month for two monthly passes. It works out to about the same as buying all single children's tickets, but the fact that I can't get children's or students' weekly or monthly passes in a city with a college, a university and a lot of independent schools really irks me.

 

[clint g]

For the most part it is far more convenient to use mass transit in NYC than public transportation.

*blink*

Mass transit is public transportation.

Yeah, that was supposed to be "personal vehicles"

 

[tomalak301]

I think mass transit can and is very useful in some cities, but sadly, not enough of them in the US. I think it is very useful in NYC, Chicago, and a handful of other cities, but those cities are the exceptions to the rule. I know that here in Atlanta, there are large portions of the metro area that are not covered very well, to the point where most commutes - especially from the suburbs - by mass transit would be ridiculously long.

Europe is much better at useful mass transit. As are certain Asian countries like Japan.

Agreed. I think if the only Mass Transit is a Train, than it's good or maybe a bus where you don't have to go very far. I've been to cities like Chicago and Washington DC and Boston and those mass transit systems are great, especially the Metro in DC. You can take the train anywhere and it doesn't feel like it takes very long. That, and you know exactly where and when you're stopping. With the bus, they're just so dang slow and every stop is used. It makes the commute unnecessarily long and they just overall suck.

 

[FPAlpha]

I've been using public transportation for years and at one point started to really hate it.

From where i worked it took me anything between 45 -1.5 hours to get home depending on if catched the right bus/train on time after leaving office as opposed to about 25-30 minutes by car and a few to find a parking sport nearby my appartment. Maintaining a car costs me quite a bit more than a monthly regional ticket for the train but it is money very well spent considering the time savings and the flexibility it brings.

Additionally i'm not really comfortable sitting so close to strangers even though i either read something or just dozed off.. it was particularly bad when i was still working the night shift and went home in the morning just when everybody was going to work/school and the trains were packed.

I'd rather drive a real shitty car than endure that again.