My hubby and I share a car, and I drop him at the BART every morning and pick him up at night. But I don't feel like I can switch to public transit because my daughter is 10 miles away at daycare while I work, and in case of emergency (natural disaster, puking fit, etc) I want to be able to get to her quickly.

We do try to use our car in the most efficient way possible, though. But we also use it to travel to visit family quite a bit. I guess thats why my 2002 has 110k miles on it!

mini I'm in your boat! my hubby and i share a car and we drive to see fam too, so my car has a ton of miles... he did get a motorcycle though, those are very fuel efficient!

If we had public transit where I live I would be on it for everything. I uses it whenever I travel for work to NJ/NY or Chicago, so maybe only 20-30 times a year.
I've been complaining for years about lack of public transportation where I live at. Where I am (country-suburb) the closes public transit route is 3 miles west or 7 miles north. Each only goes into the opposite city during work hours.

I use both. I use public transit on the weekdays to work and around the city, but I still have to use my car for other things when I am home.

(Effective) mass transit is inevitable here in the U.S., if there is one thing more dear to Americans than their cars it's their dollars.
It is unfortunate that it takes an economic head lock for many individuals to do what is great for the common good socially and economically.

Over the weekend here in the Bay Area (CA.) our 35 year old regional train system did the equivalent of breaking an arm. Over the past several years billions of dollars have been going to place band aids on maintenance issues, instead of focusing on buying modern train cars and new up grades. The result is the system is beginning to collapse because of age and the cost to fix, sit down, two billion dollars.

I can only wish. My commute doesn't allow for public transportation or carpooling, let alone bicycle riding. Lately I've been looking into telecommuting...

I think the important thing is to do what we can. Individually the effect is nothing collectively it would have an extraordinary impact if we all made an effort to simply do what we can.

If you really can't than you can't, I ain't mad at ya.

it will be more expensive for me to take public transportation because of all the switching between trains and buses

America is going to have to overhaul it's entire infrastructure. Gasoline is going to keep going up (no matter who's in the White House) and that means that anyone who works more than 30 miles from their jobs is going to have to take public transportation which doesn't exist in a lot of cities. That's going to affect the property values because who's going to want to live where you can't get to work and then we'll all die.

I've been seriously considering looking into a bicycle to ride to work... that way I can knock out my exercise and gas costs in one fell swoop. It's only 10 miles each way... however, I do struggle with losing my fabulosity. No more pretty hair, no high heels...

I would rather walk or ride a bike to work. On horrid weather days, I could even take the free downtown bus ... BUT, there's one big hang up. Daycare. Getting my son to preschool on time (meaning, I get to work on time) isn't possible without a vehicle. So, my 1.9 mile commute turns into a much longer one because of the day care detour.

I take our son, hubby picks him up in the afternoon. No real good practical solution there for us at this time ... that is until the 2008 VW SportWagen TDI comes out!!!! At least mile fuel economey will about triple from the truck I currently drive! WOOHOO!

i wish i could. but i live too far from work, and i have a full-time job, a part-time job, and classes that has me driving all over the place.

Due to location and weather up here, I don't think I'll be able to bike or walk to work really ever.

I do carpool to class whenever I can, and when I go out with friends we all ride together.

I drive a 1995 Ford Escort Five Speed and get 39.99 miles to the gallon on gasoline and 35 mile per gallon when they add the corn squeezin's to it (ethanol).

But I live in a mountain town in an area where blue collar workers are selling off their duallies and trailers to the tourists who come up here to spend the summer.

I have not changed my driving habits. I'm taking a 2000 plus mile vacation (hiking some, driving to Maine). Gas would have to get to $10 a gallon for me to reevaluate my planned trips.

I live in Los Angeles, so public transit is not that helpful to begin with. Sad too because we have some of the highest gas prices around.

BIGGEST MISTAKE THE USofA DID WAS TO SHUT DOWN THE TRAIN SYSTEM.

nevada I love you for bringing up TDIs! You go girl!

I used to have a car, but I gave it to my mom when I moved to San Francisco. The transit here is good, and when I need wheels, I just use the car-sharing system in town. I spend only $45 a month to use public transit all I want. Can't beat the cost.

I think we need some major funding for mass transit, not only in cities but in rural areas as well. I'd love to see something like Japan's shinkansen connect cities all over. That will take a massive change of opinion (and a lot of money). But let's face it: The era of cheap gas is over.

I wish! Here in the sorta suburban Dirty Souf, public transportation is nonexistent. Walking is generally out, too, given that there are no sidewalks - and I'm just not going to walk with a two and five year old in the street for any distance - and things are so spread out here.

I miss Portland, Oregon. Our car lived a life of luxury, chillaxing curbside most of the time.

Oh, and I completely agree that we need to overhaul. There are so many great examples of great public transit systems here and abroad, we have no excuse to not catch up with the times. I would kill for a DC Metro here.

And, I hate that train travel between cities is so expensive! I don't know about this side of the country but out on the West Coast, it's really unreliable too.

The DC Metro isn't the most efficient system in the universe, but I'm so grateful to have some sort of public transport. The ultimate goal would, in my opinon, be to have something like the British system, where you've got National Rail and loads of coaches and, within large urban areas, buses and subway systems. I don't want to drive, ever, but we'll see how that goes...

i don't own a car and all university (and some college) students in the Lower Mainland (Vancouver and area) get a U-Pass included in tuition which every student pays for even if they drive...which makes so much sense! We can use it on all trains, buses and ferries in all 3 zones and it is about $20 per month rather than up to $136 (for 3 zones)! I think it encourages students to take transit (which is pretty great to get to the 2 universities and many colleges in the city) rather than driving and paying for parking on campus. It also encourages me to go out and explore the city more since i can go anywhere quite easily without stopping to get a new ticket or anything.

I walk a lot, as well...to the grocery stores nearby and to the mall and a lot of places. This is a really walkable city. I don't know how to ride a bike, though. A lot of people do ride them all year round even when it rains for months at a time. i guess i'm not that brave!

i think the more people use transit (or bike) the more the city would be willing to spend money on those things (mass-transit and bike lanes among other things)...but often times cities are just too spread out to work well with mass transit - i guess it would be too expensive?! too bad, since most cities seem to be fine funding extra highways etc to ease congestion.

I chose this one "I wish. But the only public transit system around me is the sidewalk."

But like Jenn said, it should be changed to "there aren't EVEN sidewalks." can't wait to move.

While getting better public transportation and making more of it is a great plan, the bigger problem is urban sprawl. Everyone in America wants to live in a subdivision with a cul-de-sac and no through streets to cut down on traffic. So we keep moving farther and farther away from the cities and have to drive longer and longer distances to work. Even with the best public transportation in the world, there's no way we'd be able to accommodate the ever-increasing sprawl...

I wish we had better public transportation where I lived. We have a bus, but it only runs from like 8-5 everyday. Plus, they're not exactly the most punctual things ever, which sucks because I'd totally use it.
For the most part, I walk. I live maybe a mile from campus, so I walk up there 5 days a week. Most of the other places I frequent are also in walking distance. The only time I really drive is when I go grocery shopping and when I go and see my friends. Unfortunately, none of my friends live in the same town as me. Everyone lives probably 10-15 miles away. I also have a car just because I live about 250 miles away from my parents and neither of us live near an air port, so it's practical for me to have a car for when I want to go home.

I do carpool almost every day to work with my coworker, but I wish so much that there was mass transit available in this area.

I ditched my car voluntarily years ago and moved to Boston specifically because of it's mass transit system, well before the gas prices began to spike. But if I did still have it, I'd be living in a very rural area so it wouldn't be possible to give it up.

We don't have public transit in my city, and the streets are clogged with SUVs going 15 miles an hour over the speed limit at all times, so bicycles are dangerous.

I would LOVE to give up my car, but it's a necessity, unfortunately.

Yes, absolutely. Infact, I called the Transit Authority in my area just today, and am going to do some research in the next couple of days to see if a bus pass would help me with the cost of gas. On errands this evening, gas was 3.65 per gallon. And our roads, I can't even tell you how bad they are with our winters. (I live in Minnesota.) Our lovely Gov., Mr. Tim Pawlenty, refuses to properly fund our roads. Look what happened last summer to our 35W bridge and the resulting carnage. Keep that name in mind, as word has it he is being groomed for Washington.

Weekdays we carpool or take public transpo. But weekends, very bad. We drive mucho. Long distances.

I walk my son to/from school and we have a scooter that saves on gas.

I'm looking into some type of motorcycle to use throughout the summer. I don't have the option for mass transit because of my job.

UnDave, just be careful if you have to ride over one of our neigboring bridges on that crotch rocket!

Hey Hypno are you talking about the 2 fires at the Hayward BART yard and how its gonna be 6-8 wks to fix...you have to transfer at bayfair??
I do now have the option to take pt we'll see how it goes cuz I heart my car. If i live in the city I would totally do car share like bella. Movie about nyc alway make it look so easy.

Fortunately, I can avoid most bridges, and I do. The roads are in such poor condition right now, I am truly afraid of the bridge system in western WI

UnDave,

Ditto that. If you didn't have 'roids living here, you soon would!

My hubby and I planned a recent move to an area where we would be driving a lot less. We are now down to one car, we both bike, and in 5 weeks we have only filled the gas tank once.

Love that I live in a city that has public transportation.

the public transportation is almost non existent in california, i couldnt imagine doing my job (merchandising) while trying to deal with the bus and subway system in la. the funny thing is that our new york guys do it just fine so its not the fact that i have a job where i need a car, its the fact that california has never made a good effort to implement decent public transporation

Also, in SF, they are cutting back on many city routes so there will be parts of the city that are now inaccessible without a car. SF is so pathetic sometimes.

Yeah beautijunki I was talking about the fires on the BART line near Hayward.

flutterpie: I know how you feel now but back in the day like 40's, 50's & 60's Los Angeles had an excellent light rail system called the Red Car. In fact we have one of them running up and down Market St. here in San Francisco. It was dismanteled in the 60's because of strong lobbying by the auto and tire industry to build more freeways.

I've never owned my own car. Right now I live in Tokyo where the public transportation is excellent. It HAS to be good. Around a million people pass through Shinjuku station every day, and that's just one of the city hubs. If even 1/3 of these people started taking cars... No, it's impossible. The cars just wouldn't fit on the road, and anyway no one can afford it. Gas prices have been terribly high here for a long time so people have learned to do without. The recent price hike hasn't affected me in my daily life because I use so little gas. Even the heating and hot water in my apartment is electric. It was only when I took a flight to Europe that I encountered higher prices because of fuel.

But I got by without a car when I lived in the US too. I pick cities based on their public transportation systems and have always made it a priority to find apartments within walking distance from bus and train stops. These apartments aren't as big as the houses sprawling in the middle of nowhere 50 miles from work, but they exist, and the lower energy and transportation bills make up for the higher rent. And you don't have to spend as much time in the gym when you're getting a daily dose of exercise from walking to/from the station.

I'd have to drive 25 miles just to catch the Metro and at least 20 or so before I can catch a bus. After driving that, why not just drive the other few miles to work?

I'm a major control freak, so I've always had a car. I don't like depending on others--even public transit--to get anywhere.

However, even if I wanted to, mass transit in Los Angeles is dreadful. The buses are inconsistent, run late, sometimes don't stop at pick-up points. My kids take the local bus home from school, and have a problem at least once a week.

Also, welcome to the modern era, most people don't work close to home. Walking or bicycling is not generally feasible. (Although, the last year or two I occasionally pass a guy who rides a Segway, I see him often enough that he must use it as regular transportation.)

Besides, most of us have busy lives. Every weekday it's 7 miles to the kids' school, then 18 miles to work, and 13 miles home. Plus, I use lunchtimes to run errands, to free up my evenings. (It's also less crowded and more efficient during the day, particularly in the area where I work vs. where I live.)

I already carpool when I can so it aint so bad for me.

I think a big part of the problem with mass transit in the U.S. is money. Governments don't want to invest money without some sort of guarantee they will make it back. Of course, people don't want to use public transportation if it is unreliable and can't use it if it's unavailable. Making it more reliable and more available would be costly. You kind of keep going in a circle.

I personally live in the D.C. area, so I use public transportation a lot. Some days I am satisfied with it, other days I am less than satisfied. It works for the most part, though. I keep my car for trips out of town and to the grocery store, etc. I hardly ever drive, though, and, excluding trips out of town, only spend about $40 on gas a month. I could probably get rid of my car, but I keep it for ease and in case of emergency.

I live too far from work to bike or bus it. I also live in a Florida beach town where trains and subways are non-existent so I don't really have a choice. I think a lot of Americans are in the same situation.

The only good part about where I live is my wife lives just close enough to her job that she feels she can ride a bike to work, and she takes the kids in a trailer. She is getting into INCREDIBLY good shape now

I have a car I used to drive a lot when I commuted. But, now I work from home.

I use transit in DC whenever I can, but I play soccer and frisbee a lot out in VA where there are no trains. So I use my car for that. But I try to carpool whenever I can.

Honestly, I am glad that rising gas prices are finally forcing people to take a look at their habits. Obviously there are people that can't control how much they spend on gas. But even if there isn't mass transit out in the burbs, my guess is that with some effort MOST people could find a carpool, or set up a community carpool van if one doesn't exist already.

Bottom line is people will only make sacrifices when they're forced to. Now we're being forced to.

me too, Popgoestheworld. I'm not upset about rising gas prices. Our society needs to re-evaluate the way we live & if the risk to the environment won't make people change their habits, maybe the cost of gas will. I don't own a car, so I rely on public transportation & a use a car share program if I absolutely cannot take public transportation. I won't live in a city that doesn't have reliable public transportation.

I think the revealing picture here is that our public transit system nation wide does have a few highlights but across the board and compared to Europe and Japan it is substandard to our needs.

"I think a big part of the problem with mass transit in the U.S. is money. Governments don't want to invest money without some sort of guarantee they will make it back. Of course, people don't want to use public transportation if it is unreliable and can't use it if it's unavailable. Making it more reliable and more available would be costly. You kind of keep going in a circle." I agree lilkimbo.

Most don't seem to make the connection that it is crappie because we don't make public transit a priority investment and if we did it would be great. Some would say well why invest in it if we can't get people out of their cars. Well those are the people who were raised in a car culture. There are future generations who if raised with a mass transit culture available to them would more likely appreciate the benefits.