a really inconvenient truth
no, not global warming.
i recently read an article in the chicago tribune that said roughly 2.9 billion gallons of fuel are wasted in the chicagoland area each year due to traffic congestion. 2.9 billion gallons wasted while merely sitting in traffic. some cities would fix this problem by adding an extra lane (or six) on every highway. others may try to educate people so they are more efficient and can thus better chose from their commute options.
here is my proposal.
jack up gas taxes. gas here in houston is disgustingly low compared to the rest of the world (about $2.47/gal). granted, that's still more than nothing, but houstonians, as a result, have little incentive to drive less. think back to when cigarettes were first really discouraged. they jacked up the taxes to something like 90%. whether it cut it out completely doesn't matter. the government got tons of money from it, and i'm sure it cut down smoking at least a little.
so why not jack up taxes on gas? if a gallon costs me something like $6, i'm gonna be much more aware of when i need to drive and when i don't. when i need A/C or when i can deal with a little heat. when i need a big SUV, though i only drive to work everyday on the "rugged" pavement. and the best part is that the extra money can go to public transportation. those of us from chicago are well aware of the money required to run public transport (the CTA is struggling like hell to survive right now).
don't you see, people?! driving more efficient cars will help, but it's not really solving anything! we need to plan as if gas prices are gonna go through the roof, or, quite possibly, as if gas is no longer easily attainable. we need to plan now for the future. we need trains and street cars and subways and more efficiently run vehicles powered by electricty. and raising taxes on gas will both encourage people to use public transport (thus giving their money to improve it) and will raise more funds for public transport.
comments:
good idea. but what america needs is to get government funding for better public transportation. especially in chicago, which as far as i know has one of the better/ most comprehensive systems in the U.S. there's no reason the el should be so low on funds. if public transportation is convenient and reasonably priced, then people will be less inclined to drive every frigging minute of the day... just some thoughts... and p.s. where'd you read that article? was that yahoo! news, pete?? haha... i like your thoughts. keep sharing... tell houston i say hi
maggie33 | September 20 @ 5:46am