More than one car?

RE: Running and owning more than one car will increase the amount of petrol used

Not necessarily.

IF I have one car vs two, I have to drive to every single point. Let's say I have two kids and a spouse. With one car, I have to drive to A, B, C, and then D.
With two cars, one goes to A, B - another to C, D. It is not necessarily equal that driving first to A, B, then C and D are as efficient as having two or more machines make separate trips.

 

There is a path so that the distance HOME>(A,B,C,D)>HOME is less than or equal to HOME>A>B>HOME plus HOME>C>D>HOME. (Its a generalization of the triangle inequality)

On the mulit-car question, there is a good reason to have one low MPG car plus a heavy duty truck. Drive the vehicle that is cheapest for the job at hand.

 

But ze no! If ze cars are ze OUTLAWED zen zurr goovernment av to av zer green solar powered buses and ze trains, non?

Zen ze pretty flowers she will grows and ze socialism will fix ze environment.

This post has been brought to you by EUROPE who of course have the bloody answer to EVERYTHING

 

I have a pony that gets 13-17mpg in the city and 20-25 on the highway, an SUV(my dad) that gets slightly less, and a hybrid SUV(my mom). Where I live there is no public transportation and most areas don't even get school buses. We have no other choice. And I also work at a car dealership and my whole family is in the car business. I'd love to see where this whole owning less cars would leave a whole industry.

 

Oui, exactement

Love-Maxi.Xx

 

I think verseau is so damn right.
wake up americans, i do have to say that this is a very backwards way of thinking, this car adulation/coolness in the us. But i do beleive that in the future public transport will get big, so get used to the thought, in sweden we have great public transports in the cities, and noboby feels ashamed for having to come by bus to the party.... Eventually you'll get used to he thought i guess

 

you do realize that the united states is a whole fuck of a lot larger than european countries right?


so something that works in europe (dense public transit) will probably not port well.....

not to mention the fact that we have completly different infrastructure already and the waste inherent in retooling it would mitigate if not completly eliminate any improvement gained....

the eisenhower highway system is the way it is for a reason, the traffic patterns upon it and the american culture of the car are the same, when you can magicly come up with a cost effective system to cover all the same sorts of population densities as europaen public transit then, damn submit it to the secratary of transportation


until then please actually think before you lay your hands upon the keyboard.......

 

god, i honestly hope America doesnt become like european countrires with train tracks every square inch of the country, with a billion buses that are always 5-7 minutes late(is it only an american thing to be on time?).

 

Well, youve all managed to turn my point into something it never was. My original message got lost after the first few pages.
This is the world im talking about. Our world. One day were going to look back and think "what the hell were we doing?"...

We were never meant to move around this planet sitting inside metal boxes. We were given legs. We can run and walk and dance...be completely free and independent of everything but our own bodies. Soon it will become so it is not possible to walk in our own streets...to set foot on our own land. This time is very near. Its barely possible for me to make my journies as it is. The roads are jammed, the pavements black with toxic waste and my lungs itching from the sulphur and carbon dioxide. I dread to think what this is doing to my body every day. But then, most people dont know about this, as they make all journies safely inside their tin caskets, either ignorant or uncaring about the outside atmosphere. One day they will wake up. One day theyll realise they hate living with a disability of their own making, being dependent on something they do not even understand...that they want fresh air to breathe and green land for the soul and to travel safely every day.

I can only hope this time comes soon...and until then venture outside as little as possible.

Xx

 

"Never meant"?!? Who or what meant us to do or not do things?
What did they mean for us to do with our brains and opposable thumbs?
Where can I find a list of intended and un-intended behviours?

Even if we wern't meant to do something, why should we follow those plans.

If the creator wants us to follow a particular path, that is no reason to limit ourselves to the intended path.

 

we were never meant to sit on a chair and lecture people on the internet using a box that you hit repeatedly to convey a message on a fiber optic cable to people on the other side of the planet.


what is natural to you? all things you agree with?

 

sure, the US is bigger, but what about buses? what is wrong with that? Even hippyvans is a form of common transportation. To drive one or two for each car is unffective. Don't you enjoy clean air? Do you enjoy traffic jams? There are many ways to solve this problem, and if we start seeing that there MIGHT be an alternative in the future, the solution will come. This is just a habit, we might as well change it to another one; but sure, it can't be done in one day, but when you realize that MAYBE...

 

Thank you, freakon

 

Whats natural to me is to do whatever does the least harm to others and the least harm to this planet.

P.s-Its sad that you still see this as a "lecture" after so many of my attempts at explaining my motivation behind this thread. Cant you see this was anything but a selfish "i know better than you?" This was NEVER about that. I dont give a crap if im right and youre wrong or youre right and im wrong. I would have been just as involved in this thread if someone else had started it. All i want is for people to THINK a little more before they act. That is all

P.p.s-I have just seen what it says below the "Protest" heading for these threads. It says something like "help to change the world. Tell us what you think needs fixin." That is what i did.

 

i dont think you understand the situation in places.

I lived in new york city for 3 years. I took public transportation or walked everyday.

I live in vermont now, there is NO way to have public transportation here without DESTROYING the environment.

We need to create better cars, not force people to take trains and buses.

 

but why do you seeing it as "being forced" to take the bus? what if in the future there will be great modern buses. You have a negative attitude from the begininíng. open up you mind

 

privacy and leisure. I have to adhere to someone elses rules of when i can leave and when i can go. I like being able to go wherever i want, whenever i want. I dont need to wait for late buses. I dont need to sit next to stinky people who need to shower. And i dont need to listen to 500 people talking on their phone while i go to work.

Are you against improving the emissions in cars so they are healthier and thus viable longterm?

 

What sickens me is that Harley-Davidson was one of the manufacturers working with the EPA for the new emissions standards. If I understand correctly, these go into effect in either '06 or '07. Yeah, I know exactly what you mean by putting cats on bikes and the increased maintenance risks.

 

I agree! I have acquired a similar concept. I have an older small car which I use for most activities that don't require the use of a larger car, but I also have a mid-sized car which I use for other activities. As far as trucks (and other large cars for that matter) are concerned, they should be available for those who want them. Manufacturers need to work on efforts to improve their fuel mileage and roadability. I think that there should be efforts to utilize alternative sources for fuel, including fuel cell, hydrogen, water, methanol and diesel. I think that latter two would be the easiest to work on. We need to utilize hemp for fuel and eliminate as much as possible dependence on foreign sources for fuel!

www.wnbiodiesel.com
www.dcx.com
www.distributiondrive.com
Blue Sun Biodiesel-Jeff Probst 970-221-0500

 

Glad to know I disgust someone I've never met.

I own two vehicles, a small, foreign pickup which gets rather good mileage. I use it to drive the 50+ miles to work in the cold rain. There are no buses here. At all. I live in the foothills of the cascade mountains, 40 miles from the nearest medical care. I leave the 4wheel drive jeep with my wife and 19 month old daughter, so that if there is an injury, she can take my daughter to see a doctor. The ambulance(our city has one) could be the next block over, or it could be on a mountain pass, dealing with an accident or other emergency, in which case, my wife can make it to the hospital much faster on her own. As far as local trips? My wife and I walk to the store, or the post office, etc in good weather. The last two weeks, the temperature never got out of the 30s, and was mostly below 25. That's farenheit, not celcius. Sorry, weather is good for the kid, but not my wife. She's had pneumonia 6 times. 4 wheel drive is a neccesity here, due to ice on the roads. As well as heavy rain 10 months of the year.
I used to live in the SF Bay Area. I drove 30 minutes to work. The same trip by public transport took 3+hours. So, 6 hours commute, plus my (often)12 or 16 hour shifts leaves what kind of life?
I live in the country, and my wife and I own a small local business. We are trying to develop it so that I no longer have to drive long distances to work. What makes you so much better, that I disgust you?