Would $6.00/gal. gas do the trick?

I wonder how high it would have to get for everyone to switch to plug-in hybrids and wonder what other alternatives would arise if it got that expensive. Would the government than tax the hell out of electricity bills?

Don't forget that the price of gasoline has gone up in countries where it has been traditionally high. Notwithstanding, they also have a predilection towards buying SUVs...but OTOH, many of these countries (not all) also have an extensive high-speed rail network.

Another thing is that high gas prices discourage toursim. Several years ago I was considering a ski trip to the Alps, but did not feel like spending $3-5.00 per gallon. As a result, I decided not to go.

Been thinking about this subject recently, especially since I'm seeing retail prices for regular unleaded in excess of $3 per gallon—again.

Ireland is remaining bizarrely resistant to significant rail investment despite fuel prices over there at an average of $5.72 per US gallon at the time of writing. That makes their transportation policy remarkably different from other European countries, and their economy is as vibrant as the "big countries" in the union. (Germany, for example, has an average fuel price of $6.79 per US gallon, again at the time of writing—but at least their transportation is more balanced than either Ireland or the USA.) Such things make me wonder how resistant the USA will remain towards significant public transportation investment in the face of all this…

Great topic here.

We do love our cars, but I think eventually (who knows when) we will be forced to invest in more rail infrastructure. I hope so, at least. The only way this might be avoidable would be if we get our cars really efficient really fast. But that still doesn't keep the population from growing. Traffic would still suck.

Everyone: Interesting debate here! I wonder myself when the price of oil increases to the point that gasoline prices reach a point high enough to encourage public transit use. The US's oil dependency is in my opinion starting to show signs of real trouble. I am old enough to remember both energy shortages in 1972-73 and 1979-80. The US since then-after Ronald Reagan became president-has done next to nothing until recently to reduce our oil dependency. I personally believe in a balanced transportation system-not one slanted so far over in favor of highways and airlines-both significant oil-dependent industries-over mass transit-particularly commuter rail. My thoughts here on this issue-MACTRAXX

To specifically address gas prices for a moment:

My gut reaction is that I am all in favor of more expensive gas in order to fund public transit initiatives. I think this would be a wise action to take in terms of the environment and foreign policy. But I must also admit that I don't yet own a car or have a family to support. It's easy for me to promote big hikes in gas prices because it doesn't come directly out of my wallet yet. Any purposeful effort to raise gas prices is sure to meet heavy resistance, IMO, from a whole lot of people. Some might not be able to afford it, and others might just resent the idea of the government tampering with the ecomony too much. I am tempted to say "deal with it, this is for the greater good" or something to that effect, but of course it's not that simple.

Thought I'd resurrect this: the Atlanta average a/o today is $3,99 or so (about the same as national). The highways are noticably emptier (the cessation of schools not-withstanding; highways and back roads are even emptier!), and MARTA is seeing much increased ridership. Hopefully, this will spur even more commuter rail (and kick-start Atlanta).

I thought 4 bucks would make people scream for more transit and new routes even if it was just buses.

Fact is that $2.50 and $3.00 marks did increase mass transit loadings by 5% to 8%. The $4.00 cost now is leading toward commuter service meltdown as most agencies are not equipped to handle this quick surge. Patience is needed as these agencies try to adapt to the situation...they don't have extra cars, they don't have extra crews, the don't have extra track. There are calls for changing or spreading out work hours to stretch the "peak" travel hours, etc. If they can't handle the new traffic, then the new traffic will not give them the 5 to 20 years needed to catch up, and there will be real trouble!

It seems, too, that conventional wisdom is turning not to the oil companies as being the culprits, but rather investment bankers, et. al., who are looking at commodities rather than the stock market, to make their overnight fortunes and thus running the price of a barrel of oil higher and higher. The big oil companies, in effect, have lost control of the market and are as much at the mercy of the market as we are. If and how they regain control, I don't know.

In Germany we have passed $6.00/gal. gas months ago. I'm paying about $9,20 to $9,30 for a gal. gas or diesel.
The roads are not really emptier...

Buy smaller cars!

Dont forget: The average consumption per mile and car in Germany is lower than in the US. And we can speed up to 150mph and more...

A point here which I only recently identified: gas prices have not been tracking crude oil prices. Crude has been going up much faster than gas prices. This has pretty much eliminated the profits of refineries and gas stations.

That's not sustainable. And crude looks set to go up even further. This means gas prices *will* go up further, whether we like it or not. If they had tracked crude prices, they'd be in the $10 range, in the US, already.

Interesting point on the correlation (or lack thereof) between crude and gas. I think the oil companies have reached the ceiling of american tolerance where demand is finally no longer inelastic, and begins to decrease as prices increase. It's the same deal as with the airlines and auto-makers: they can't make a profit at what the public is willing to pay, so they cut capacity to drive up prices. Although I think the oil companies are doing just fine at maintaining their margins.