DrewEckhardt 0 #1 June 12, 2008 QuoteRegarding the Perris Jet: Hope all the paperwork and mechanical stuff will wok out fine and it will be up in the air sometime soon. Fuel prices: QuoteQuoteQuoteI just paid $4.19 per gallon of gas this morning. I wish! Gas is $4.53 to $4.69 a gallon where I'm at! I'm afraid that by the end of 08, we won't be skydiving much. $5.11 per gallon in Canada. (it was $1.35 per litre last weekend). this is getting ridiculous! Stop wining Gallon in Germany currently at $ 8.83 1. You don't have very far to drive. Your entire country is only as big as Montana (1 out of 50 US states). 2. Your population density allows for workable mass transit. You have 82,000,000 people in your country where Montana has just 922,000. I never had to rent a car when I travellened in Germany. Busses and trains were frequent and inexpensive. I've only been to one city in the US where I didn't need a rental car or hundreds of dollars in taxi fares. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddler 0 #2 June 12, 2008 Quote 2. Your population density allows for workable mass transit. You have 82,000,000 people in your country where Montana has just 922,000. Not to derail the thread (pun intended ), considering the US is the world's largest economy, and we seem to be able to drop $3 trillion on a war half-way around the world for no apparent reason, we could probably afford to put mass transit all across this country if we really wanted to.Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZigZagMarquis 9 #3 June 12, 2008 Quote ...considering the US is the world's largest economy, and we seem to be able to drop $3 trillion on a war half-way around the world for no apparent reason... Actually, there is a reason, you'd rather Sept 11th, 2001 type attacks continue on U.S. soil? ... but that's a topic for the Speaker's Corner. *** ...we could probably afford to put mass transit all across this country if we really wanted to. Yes, we could and skyrocketing fuel prices may cause us to want to. However, I'd rather go back to cheap gas and be able to drive my SUV when and where I want and not give a rats ass if the folks in the socialist rest of the EU are paying big $$ for gas. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ast4711 0 #4 June 12, 2008 Quote1. You don't have very far to drive. Your entire country is only as big as Montana (1 out of 50 US states). 2. Your population density allows for workable mass transit. You have 82,000,000 people in your country where Montana has just 922,000. I never had to rent a car when I travellened in Germany. Busses and trains were frequent and inexpensive. I've only been to one city in the US where I didn't need a rental car or hundreds of dollars in taxi fares. Your statement qualifies you as beeing ignorant and sketchy. While what you said may be true for some it is definitely not true for others like me. The USA with 5% of the worldwide population consume about 40% of all resources and 25% of the commercial energy like oil etc. I personally have absolutely no problem if you pay the bill now... Hey, you have such a great country with many great people (and many not so great), but I think it is time for you to awake!!! I am not saying that in europe (especially germany) everything is going right - we are far from that, but in some aspects you are far behind the curve... alex -- www.tandemmaster.net www.skydivegear.de Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelpdiver 2 #5 June 12, 2008 that completely missed the point of the density argument. Montana would never be a candidate for mass transit. Not say we couldn't get 80% of the country in good shape, but those open states aren't part of the game. As discussed elsewhere in SC, the current zoning and sprawl also does not lend itself well to mass transit. European cities evolved in the time before cars and so they're already well setup for this problem. I think it would take us 50 years to remaps most metropolitan areas to look more like Chicago and NYC. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddler 0 #6 June 12, 2008 QuoteActually, there is a reason, you'd rather Sept 11th, 2001 type attacks continue on U.S. soil? ... but that's a topic for the Speaker's Corner. Well, I guess th thread got moved here anyway. I guess if you read Speaker's Corner, you would have read more than once that the war in Iraq had nothing to do with Sept 11th? Feel free to continue that argument there. QuoteYour statement qualifies you as beeing ignorant and sketchy. Not half as much as your judgment qualifies you of the same. I know Drew personally, and he is neither ignorant nor sketchy. Quotethe current zoning and sprawl also does not lend itself well to mass transit. Very true, but what is harder to do with our geography can be made up for with our relative wealth. When the Germans constructed much of their public transportation, they weren't exactly flush with cash. Mostly, they just had determination, and they didn't let corporations dictate their infrastructure. Edit - changing thread titleTrapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelpdiver 2 #7 June 12, 2008 QuoteVery true, but what is harder to do with our geography can be made up for with our relative wealth. When the Germans constructed much of their public transportation, they weren't exactly flush with cash. Mostly, they just had determination, and they didn't let corporations dictate their infrastructure. If someone bombed most of our towns into rubble, yeah, I bet we would choose to remake it very differently. But we're not about to raze standing homes on that sort of scale. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jakee 1,563 #8 June 13, 2008 Quote1. You don't have very far to drive. Your entire country is only as big as Montana (1 out of 50 US states). So? How many Americans actually commute the breadth of Montana to get to work everyday?Do you want to have an ideagasm? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Casurf1978 0 #9 June 13, 2008 QuoteMostly, they just had determination, and they didn't let corporations dictate their infrastructure. Look at the history of the public transportation system in Los Angeles. At one point in time we had the largest rail transit system, over 1100 miles, in the world. Then GM, oil and rubber companies bought up all the rail lines and started to demolish them, by the early 1960's the last line was shut down. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #10 June 13, 2008 Quoteand they didn't let corporations dictate their infrastructure. Never heard of Deutsche Bundesbahn or the Landerbahnen before that, have you.... industry (corporations) has always driven infrastructure since the beginning of the industrial age.Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
