Price of Gas

I stopped paying attention to the price of gas a little while back, shortly after crude went over $100 a barrel (for the record it broke the $130 mark this morning). Back in the day of working in transportation and trying to get people out their cars, we talked about how the price of gas would have to triple before people would start changing their behavior. That time has come and it looks like people are trying to change their travel patterns, from commuters taking the bus to contractors leaving large pick em up trucks at the office unless they have to make site visits.

Some people are starting to use transit, unfortunately RTD is looking at cutting service, albeit on lesser used routes, due to budget shortfalls related in part to dramatic increases in fuel costs. Another piece of the puzzle is that more people are now using the Eco-Pass provided by their employer (it is the all you can eat version of the transit pass) which means RTD doesn't see any additional fare box revenue. Then there are folks looking at higher fuel efficiency when it comes to personal vehicles, enter the scooter.

Scooters are becoming even more common, not just because of their retro, hipster, metro, geek sensibilities. According to this morning's WSJ, the downsides to scooter riding when fuel was cheap (exposure to the elements, squirrelly handling on potholed city streets, getting made fun of by your friends) are being ignored for the upside of $5 weekly trips to the pump. Read it for yourself!

Since most of my trips are within about a five mile radius and my commute to work is a whopping twelve blocks, I'll be sticking to my bicycle. I even have one in the basement, my very first racing bike that could make for a very nice beater bike. All I need is a set of fenders and a lock . . . and the rest of the bearings for the bottom bracket, a chain might help too.