Apr
4
This is a Good Thing, Right?
Filed Under Deep Thoughts, Green Efforts
Leaving work at the end of the day earlier this week, I snapped this photo while stopped at a light just around the corner from our offices here in San Juan Capistrano in Southern California. This particular station has always had obscenely high prices, but now premium gas is well beyond the $4 per gallon threshold. And this morning I noticed that they’ve adjusted the price up to $4.13 with super at over $4 now.
While I never buy from this station, the overall trend is now REALLY starting to play with the economics of bike and mass transit commuting options versus driving. SoCal is not exactly designed for easy mass transportation use given the infamous suburban sprawl of the region and car-centric mentality of the original urban planners (effectively the developers and politicians), but I think it will finally start to noticeably affect pocketbooks and wallets.
I’ve got to start up the bike commute again now that there’s enough daylight at the end of the day for the 14 mile bike leg of my multi-modal commute (which includes a train ride up the coast to Orange County). With my kids’ school schedules in the morning and wife’s work, I can only do it two days per week, but gas prices should now make it a financial win as well as a Wilford Brimley-esque “right thing to do”?
So the high gas prices are painful, but it’s a good thing for the bike industry, right?
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One Response to “This is a Good Thing, Right?”
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I suppose that it needs even more radical price hikes to actually get people to ride bikes. Higher costs don’t easily brake habits. However, there seems to be more awareness as to what kind of cars people buy. At least something, but not really a big mover for the bike industry.