LamaGT
Emperor
OMG 3$ a gallon that's so HIGH
Try 1.90 a liter, you'll see how quickly you'll convert to small cars.
Try 1.90 a liter, you'll see how quickly you'll convert to small cars.
Automobile Trends
- Thread starter Smellincoffee
- Start date
KMRblue1027
Deity
My Dad would go bankrupt within a week. He has a 55 minutes commute 90% which is highway.
LamaGT
Emperor
Do you really think people with cars would suddenly start using buses? Hell even here it would be madness.
I have no sympathy for anyone who put themselves in such a situation. Even at current fuel prices, your dad should immediately move, get a new job, or negotiate to work remotely. Commuting 55 minutes by car, alone, is insane.
If your father makes $40k/year and works 47 weeks per year, a 55 minute commute is costing him around $13k in vehicle costs and $8k in opportunity costs.
If they can't afford to drive to work, yes, they'd take buses to work instead.
I have a car and take buses/trains whenever possible.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
Sympathy or a lack of it doesn't matter; a lot of people are in that exact position, if not worse ones. I had a boss who was spending 4 hours commuting every day.. Yep, 4 hours.
Stupid or not, these people have to be a part of the solution. You can't just say "Oh, they'll figure it out"
Borachio
Way past lunacy
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2012
- Messages
- 26,698
It's simply not that easy to relocate in practice. It's OK for a single guy, but for a whole family, with the wife working (who may not be able to find work elsewhere) and kids in a school, how easy is it going to be?
I agree commuting is a dreadful waste of time and resources for everyone, though.
And something like 70% of all human activity is concerned with transport and related industries. That seems a waste too. 70% of our effort just in getting us, and stuff, somewhere. Before we do anything else.
I agree commuting is a dreadful waste of time and resources for everyone, though.
And something like 70% of all human activity is concerned with transport and related industries. That seems a waste too. 70% of our effort just in getting us, and stuff, somewhere. Before we do anything else.
Yes I can.
Pretty easy, my family did it plenty of times.
The Prius comes in a 7-seat wagon version.
That's one seat short of fitting my family.
Congrats, your family is in the ~3%!
(Though I'd argue you don't need to fit any children over the age of 18, they're no longer part of the household and should arrange for their own transportation.)
Cheezy the Wiz
Socialist In A Hurry
They also feed drivers' road rage and inferiority complex on the road.
Yeah, carpooling totally makes sense. It's not like anyone ever has jobs where they cannot fit into a carpooling schedule. It's not like anyone ever has to stay late. It's not like anyone ever has a sick kid they have to go home for. It's not like anyone actually thought how stupid it would be to actually force someone to carpool...
Cheezy the Wiz
Socialist In A Hurry
Who exactly are you addressing with this?
KMRblue1027
Deity
Because moving or finding a new job is totally an easy thing for a middle-class person with a 200+ thousand mortgage and a son that is starting college. 
He's going to move when the house is ready to sell (fixing up some stuff) than get a new car with better mileage than his old Grand Prix that barely scratches 22 MPG. Hopefully he can start to telecommute once a week but the area he's moving to actually is further away than where he is now, but it's where my step-mom works and she's got tenure at her school in DE and the market for teachers in NJ is toxic to say the least.
@VRWC: Exactly. Carpooling only makes sense when it doesn't cause a major inconvenience to all people involved. If you live close and don't have dependents is probably a good idea but any little emergency and all of a sudden someone is stranded.
He's going to move when the house is ready to sell (fixing up some stuff) than get a new car with better mileage than his old Grand Prix that barely scratches 22 MPG. Hopefully he can start to telecommute once a week but the area he's moving to actually is further away than where he is now, but it's where my step-mom works and she's got tenure at her school in DE and the market for teachers in NJ is toxic to say the least.
@VRWC: Exactly. Carpooling only makes sense when it doesn't cause a major inconvenience to all people involved. If you live close and don't have dependents is probably a good idea but any little emergency and all of a sudden someone is stranded.
Uh... you know what? I actually meant carpool in every friggin' instance above that I said commute. Sorry about that 
And really, it wasn't directed to anyone in particular. I just get fed up with people thinking of ways to force others to alter their driving habits to suit someone else.
And really, it wasn't directed to anyone in particular. I just get fed up with people thinking of ways to force others to alter their driving habits to suit someone else.
Hooray! I feel special!
And yeah, that is slowly becoming the case as more of us move off to college. But my mom still uses the tank instead of our smaller sedan because weirdly enough, it gets better MPG, even though its twice the size.
Because moving or finding a new job is totally an easy thing for a middle-class person with a 200+ thousand mortgage and a son that is starting college.
Whaa, life is hard.
KMRblue1027
Deity
So you're just an elitist who cannot possibly understand the problems of people who aren't massively wealthy. Good for you.
