The sad thing is that the US used to have good public transport in many locations. However, a conglomeration of motor vehicle interests (GM, Firestone, Standard Oil and some others) formed illegal cartels and started buying up trolleys and street cars. By the mid-forties National City Lines (the front organisation used) controlled public transport in 80 cities and had started converting to buses and removing tracks as a way of encouraging people to buy more cars. GM was fined a tiny $5,000 which didn't do anything to stop their unquestionably illegal actions, and the GM President ended up as Secretary of Defense helping to craft the Federal Aid Highway Act which poured $25Billion into road building.

BC

 

This thread is a very interesting read.

In Germany the public transport system is very efficient, as you'd expect(!), however my observation since arriving here in 1999 and watching the fuel prices increase, is that most people's solution is as Lancaster pointed out above... they buy (smaller) more fuel efficient cars. This includes company car and private users... its all about smaller fuel efficient engines that still give acceptable, and in some cases even excellent performance.
(I am in a fortunate position and paid extra to buck the trend and go for a larger engine. However this was limited by the company to a diesel engine and not a petrol engine of any kind due to fuel costs.)

So if you talk about WORKABLE SOLUTIONS, this in my mind will be the next step the US will also take, again as Lancaster wrote above. Its not the answer to oil / fuel price problems, buts its a relatively quick and easy way of reducing their impact. The fact that key car manufacturers are investing in this solution for the US now, would imply that the solution is on its way. At the very least it will bridge the time until the next generation fuels and engines are available.

 

One should not forget that the whole US infrastructure is built on cars,
USA has very few big cities like London or Paris in Europe where the
public transport is OK.

The American dream has been for 100 years a own house in the suburban areas and so it is now.
Therefore households with 3-4 or even more cars in not uncommon, public transport is the School Bus.

Also the average US American do not really understand the world outside North America, they don't need to.
But I'm fast to say, that people owning a premium European car must be above average education and income.

So getting US to drive with cars double the mpg compared to now is almost impossible in the land of cars,
but a must in the near future.

+ $10 / gallon will help to understand this fact.

No hard feelings guys, I have lived over there and a like the country a lot, but nowhere is perfect!

 

It's now a proven fact that our President Bush caused the Civil War.....evil bastard!!

 

well said, seems like most people need $10+ /gallen to learn. otherwise they are not giving up.

 

+1

Im in Florida for 2 weeks in sept - looking forward to paying for a $6 gallon!!!!!!! (I will be saving $4).

To fill my tank in the UK is presently costing me ?89. (Approx $175 US)

 

This isn't entirely true. We have a ton of large cities with great public transportation. I live in Washington, DC (Arlington, VA) and I walk for most of my needs, and take our underground system very often. In fact, before I bought my E60 I was driving ~20K miles per year. For the 3 years I have owned the E60, I have reduced this to ~8K miles per year. Ironic isn't it, I buy the nicest car I have ever had and it causes me to drive less because I want to baby it! I get 25MPG btw.

Granted, in the US - you need to have a fair amount of money to live in the nicer parts of city centers - especially in the places near public transportation. We're both blessed and cursed with great expanses of land - it makes driving a necessity for the vast majority of people.


As to what the average American does and doesn't understand... I think the world greatly misunderstands our country and our people. The world's exposure to Americans is limited to what they see depicted on American television programs and films, combined with the tourists they can identify. Many more who do travel or live here for a while are in one or a very small number of areas. Vast differences exist between different parts of our country. It is easy to assume that we're all the same, and that's simply not true.

The Americans who do understand the world and the places they travel don't stand out and don't get noticed. The last time I was in Milan, people stopped and asked me for directions (in Italian) several times every day. I don't even speak Italian! The American tourists you notice become the stereotypical "ugly Americans" that the rest of the world has come to loath. Americans get a bad rap because America is one of the few countries wealthy enough to be able to export its idiots (UK, Germany, Australia can also). Many countries have a relatively cast society, creating generations of learned people who have experienced and learned about the world, etc... These educated people are pretty much the only ones you see outside of their respective home countries - creating the impression that all the people from these places are educated and civilized. If the average boarish idiots from each of these countries were sent abroad, it would likely create just as awful a situation.

To contrast the societal differences I have seen - a young lawyer in Italy doesn't make much money. Young US lawyers make tons more money. However, the young lawyers in Italy have all the trappings of wealth - the summer homes they can vacation in, the good clothes, jewelry, apartments, etc... Why? It's a legacy of their family's wealth and position in society. They don't make tons of money, but they don't need to. They already have or have access to the things that the lawyer in the US would be trying to work for. The young Italian lawyer has likely spent the better part of a year living outside of Italy, perhaps in the US... and understands the world. The US lawyer who might not have had a super wealthy family may need to be on the job for a few years before getting the same opportunity to expand his knowledge and perspective.

I agree that gas guzzling cars are a poor decision for folks who need to watch their budgets. I think a lot of folks are in a bind right now in the US. However, I doubt we'll see people making the changes that need to be made. It's far more likely that the country as a whole will come to rely on technology and changes to fuel types to end its reliance on scarce fuels.

 

Great post with some insightful observations on our perceptions of each other.

Regards

Martin

 

I'm still waiting for the e85 fuel to be more readily available in So Cal. I know it may not be a huge cost advantage if not more but at least it is a petrol alternative that GM has sold the crap out of (no cost options).

 

Well, TV and films give a funny picture of US citizens, only beautiful and young but no fat people?

The other thing people outside US see is a ---- President who likes to create wars - oil is a good enough reason.
Actually my late father fought the Russians for five years and my sisters husband is a Vietnam veteran - wars are not good for anything, especially not for the soldiers.

But as I said, I have lived over there and have active contacts with Americans, so I know that the US people are mostly active, nice and polite and really patriotic.

Finland is also, I'm afraid, able to export its idiots (luckily we are not that many).

Let us all try the save the Earth, bit by bit - it's the only one we have and the same for us all.