Gas prices spike across the continental US and in Canada overnight through earlier today
74 replies, posted
There's still different means. I'm not saying that you guys don't have it rough with gas either but it's difficult to compare it over seas.
[QUOTE=-Get_A_Life-;37647387]It's around 1.7€/L in France, you guys have it easy.[/QUOTE]
In the last 5 years, an average loaf of bread (do you guys buy that pre-packed shit in France? We practically don't have fresh bread anymore) went from $2 to $3.50. Gas has gone from about $.80/L to $1.35+/L around Ottawa/Gatineau. In a longer-term look, about 10 years or so, the average house went from about $100k to $280k.
Sadly wages are no where close to keeping up: almost all industries are suffering wage freezes, and those that aren't are going up 1.8-2%, because that is the supposed rate of inflation (a 50-75% increase in the price of most foods apparently doesn't warrant raising the government inflation rate), and many jobs that were lost were replaced... with low-pay service work. I was working at Loblaws while going to school, and the maximum wage you could earn was $17-something. Loblaws recently dropped that $14 and lost most of their old staff. My pay went from $14 to $11. After the price raise, Loblaws posted record profits. After the wage reduction, Loblaws again posted record profits. Let me clarify: not revenue, PROFIT.
We're getting shafted full circle in Canada and no one is doing anything about it.
[QUOTE=Abrown516;37647451]You can't compare gas prices internationally by currency because of cost of living, taxes, etc.[/QUOTE]
Yeah american ones tend to be lower in those areas as well.
Any excuse at all that will make gas prices go up, but never down...
Fuck.
[QUOTE=SSBMX;37649341]Welp, time to blame Obama
-Republicans[/QUOTE]
4 years ago, it was basically
Time to blame Bush.
-Democrats
Each side in politics is just stupid. I hate how they blame everything on each other.
I'm gonna keep to my bike and public transport anyway
[QUOTE=Zambies!;37648497]Seriously the reason our gas prices are low is because we don't have (good) high speed trains or (good) busses.[/QUOTE][url=http://docs.nrdc.org/energy/files/ene_12090402a.pdf]Actually is the other way round[/url] [url=https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1276735/Pictures/Other/gasprice.PNG](Relevant part of poll)[/url] In other words we won't start to see a significant mode shift until the gas average hits $4-$5 per gallon. Also in the same document Americans are [url=https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1276735/Pictures/Other/gastax.PNG]woefully overestimating and some underestimating[/url] how much the gas tax really is. [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_the_United_States](In reality its on average about half of what most Americans think it is)[/url] This makes it very hard to do any increases that would help fund transit projects because people already think the gas tax is too high.
I know this is not a popular opinion but I hope gas prices stay high and keep going up. Yes I know this will hurt Obama, yes I know this will hurt a lot of Americans, yes I know this is going to drag this slow economy out even further. But high gas prices are the necessary stick to push people toward the carrot of more efficient travel.
However, when the shit hits the fan and we see $6+ per gallon gas average we will be left in the dust. Europe and Japan already have an A+ system in places while China, Brazil, and other developing nations are building like mad. By 2020 Beijing's subway will go from a mere 231 miles to 650 miles, almost triple the current size of the London Underground.
Massive investments in public transit in conjunction with more green energy and improving battery life for electric cars can turn this around for the US. These things may not make that much of an impact now but in the future they will pay back tenfold.
Or we can wait until gas is so expensive that getting any of the stuff listed above done would be extremely difficult.
I'm going to make my own car
fueled by PURE RAGE
[editline]13th September 2012[/editline]
Luckily I'll be staying somewhere with a good public transport system, making the car obsolete for using around town.
[QUOTE=BoSoZoku;37647571]Well technically isn't Europe closer to most sources of gasoline compared to the US?
[/QUOTE]
It depends on where the oil is coming from. Europe would be closer to Middle Eastern sources of oil but Canada, specifically the oil sands, is a major source of oil for the U.S aside from the Middle East.
You'd think that would make things cheaper in Canada but I'm not sure if we even have our own refineries.
OT: I wonder if it would be too late to switch to diesel and fuel my car with used vegetable oil.
[QUOTE=I_Forgot;37648103]Yep, it's about $4.20 outside of Chicago. It was quite a shock when I moved up here from Tennessee, where gas prices were $3.60.
However, everything is much closer, and I take the train to work, so I don't drive nearly as much as I did in Tennessee.[/QUOTE]
I live in the suburbs somewhat by Gurnee, and commute 40 miles a day to my office right next to o'hare, in a van that eats 4 gallons a day just on that trip alone; there are times I've had to drive out for projects, often much farther away than that.
Granted, I carpool with my dad (his van) and split costs, it isn't TOO bad, but I'm going this weekend to find a new car that would cut gas down to maybe 2 gallons/day. I need a separate vehicle anyways, sold my car off to a friend who needed it more, I've been lucky enough to have someone going my way when it counts.
[QUOTE=Simski;37648621]Perhaps time to go back to basics :v:
[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_car"][IMG]http://www.stanleymotorcarriage.com/Stanley735 10SEP05.jpg[/IMG][/URL][/QUOTE]
old engines produced alot more heat compared to horsepower compared to todays cars.
This is why I like having a fuel efficient car and the fact that during the school year, most of my miles are highway miles. These changes, while they do affect me since I don't really make a lot of money, they aren't as unforgiving as if I were driving a full-size SUV.
[QUOTE=mac338;37649376]The short 30 minute trip to my school is $15, or $150 per week.[/QUOTE]
It costs 10$ for a 30 minute train ride to downtown Chicago but that is totally worth it considering how much it is to park a car downtown
So CTV just reported GTA gas prices are expected to [b]fall[/b] by 6.2 cents at midnight.
[QUOTE=-Get_A_Life-;37647387]It's around 1.7€/L in France, you guys have it easy.[/QUOTE]
Americans typically travel further to school, work, etc...
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/w1YVj.jpg[/IMG]
$4 here in Columbus
[editline]13th September 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Ridge;37650952]Americans typically travel further to school, work, etc...
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/w1YVj.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
Depending on the city really.
Boy am I glad I take the bike and walk.
It just hit $4 around my house. We went from 3.65 to 4 almost overnight.
I might start biking to work and school
[QUOTE=Conspiracy;37651016]I pay $1.02US/gallon :v:[/QUOTE]
WHERE ARE YOU. saudi arabia?
[QUOTE=V12US;37648313]Gas prices are at 1.88 Euros a liter in the Netherlands.
Watching Americans complain about gas prices pisses me off.[/QUOTE]
I live in the single most densely populated county of Florida (and ~30th overall in the entire nation), one of the most populated states, and yet I have to drive thirty minutes to [I]two hours[/I] depending on traffic to reach the nearest city.
My college is 30 minutes away. It takes an hour and a half to make the same trip by bus. It costs $30 to take the trip by taxi.
There are no bicycle lanes on 90% of the roads.
The most efficient car you buy is a shitbox Geo Metro, famous for being a complete [I]death trap[/I]. It tops out at ~50mpg if you drive like a snail. Other efficient designs are either expensive (hybrids, diesel Mercs), unreliable/expensive to maintain (Geo, VW, hybrids), or complete death traps (Geo, CR-Xs).
Diesel costs as much as premium or high-performance gas, negating most of the advantages you get from driving a slow diesel car (because you aren't getting a fast diesel for under $30,000)
A large amount of Americans resides in the southern states and the western states, which are all hotter than the vast majority of Europe. If you drive without A/C on (worsening your gas mileage), you will (depending on location), you will arrive drenched in sweat or die from heat-stroke, in the case of Florida. Let's compare Tampa (a population center in the gulf side of Florida), to various European cities:
Tampa (avg. high) in July: [B]90.7 degrees[/B] Fahrenheit - This does not take into account Florida's extreme humidity, which can easily bring the temperature past the hundred point
Copenhagen: [B]66.6 degrees[/B] Fahrenheit - Same month as Tampa, but it has far, far lower humidity. 66.6 degrees is a chilly day in Tampa.
Paris: [B]77.4 degrees[/B] Fahrenheit - A nice, cool day in Tampa.
We pay out of the ass on gas simply for having to use the air conditioner, which can reduce gas mileage by at least 3 mpg depending on how hot it is, and what setting you have the A/C at.
Socal 3.98 last night
$3.84 a gallon?
I wish my gas was $3.84, its over $4 where I live, and it has been that way for a long time now.
I filled up at 4.10 yesterday and the same place was up to 4.17 today.
[QUOTE=Political Gamer;37649661][URL="http://docs.nrdc.org/energy/files/ene_12090402a.pdf"]Actually is the other way round[/URL] [URL="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1276735/Pictures/Other/gasprice.PNG"](Relevant part of poll)[/URL] In other words we won't start to see a significant mode shift until the gas average hits $4-$5 per gallon. Also in the same document Americans are [URL="https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1276735/Pictures/Other/gastax.PNG"]woefully overestimating and some underestimating[/URL] how much the gas tax really is. [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_the_United_States"](In reality its on average about half of what most Americans think it is)[/URL] This makes it very hard to do any increases that would help fund transit projects because people already think the gas tax is too high.
I know this is not a popular opinion but I hope gas prices stay high and keep going up. Yes I know this will hurt Obama, yes I know this will hurt a lot of Americans, yes I know this is going to drag this slow economy out even further. But high gas prices are the necessary stick to push people toward the carrot of more efficient travel.
However, when the shit hits the fan and we see $6+ per gallon gas average we will be left in the dust. Europe and Japan already have an A+ system in places while China, Brazil, and other developing nations are building like mad. By 2020 Beijing's subway will go from a mere 231 miles to 650 miles, almost triple the current size of the London Underground.
Massive investments in public transit in conjunction with more green energy and improving battery life for electric cars can turn this around for the US. These things may not make that much of an impact now but in the future they will pay back tenfold.
Or we can wait until gas is so expensive that getting any of the stuff listed above done would be extremely difficult.[/QUOTE]
I don't think it's just the price incentive, more because of the combination of: the US having a population density of the moon and the huge highway infrastructure today. Trains are only good for hubs like the east coast and California. Everything else is pretty undeveloped and spread out.
[QUOTE=Conspiracy;37651016]I pay $1.02US/gallon :v:[/QUOTE]
Lives in Qatar. You oil rich motherfucker
Its about $3.9 a gallon where i live in Ellicott City , Maryland but i know a place near my College that sells gas for $3.6 a gallon
Here in missouri, our gas prices spiked $0.20 overnight.
gas threads are hilarious because people just come in whining WEEH WEH YOU GUYS THINK YOU HAVE IT BAD WELL IT'S $900000000000000/L WHERE I LIVE!!!
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