"malcolm.scott" wrote:
> I agree, but this will not happen when people believe, rightly or wrongly
> that heavy cars are safer. Also it would be just as much help if people
> stopped moving further away from work (unless they telework or travel by
> train) and taking jobs that require longer commuting drives. Cheap fuel
> encourages this behaviour.
> Malcolm
You bring up intelligent points, but the issues aren't always so clear cut.
In our case the decision to move far away from work had less to do with
cheap fuel than cheap land. We simply couldn't afford to live close to where I
work, as the properties there were running better than $50 000 more expensive
than the lot we bought. Even if fuel was twice the price, I could buy a LOT of
it for the difference. (Trust me, we agonized over this decision!)
Here's how the math works. I burn roughly 200 liters per month driving
wherever I need to go. At .62 per liter, that's $124 per month, or $1 488 per
year. At twice the price, I'd spend $2 976 per year. Dividing that into $50
000, and you'll find that it would take nearly 17 years to make up the amount I
would have spent by living close to work. Adding interest to that $50 000 makes
the situation MUCH worse.
The reason for the price difference relates to the convenience of being
close to where the jobs are. If you want all the city amenities, you'll pay for
them in higher real estate prices and heftier taxes. We will pay less tax on
our brand new house than we did for our previous home, located in a low income
housing project built in 1978! (And we have more than twice the land, plus
nearly twice the internal square footage!)
Also, though my commute is now much further, the driving doesn't take much
more time than it did before we moved. I used to drive 12 km to work--a trip
that took me twenty five minutes because of traffic lights and less than
thoughtful drivers. Now, I go nearly four times the distance, but it only takes
me ten minutes longer. I come home a LOT less stressed out because I'm not
fighting traffic the whole way.
What a system, right?
I would love to stay at home and work, but I've sold less than 10 copies of
my novel since it came out in August . . . I guess that for the near future,
I'll have to "keep my day job".
robert luis rabello
"The Edge of Justice"
Adventure for Your Mind
http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/9782
Biofuel at Journey to Forever:
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