One thing I have never understood about Americans is their love of cars and I am from Texas--SUV country par excellence.
To me a car is like a prison sentence, once all the real costs are figured into the purchase. First there is filling it up. Easily $50 right now, $2600 a year. Then their is oil for the engine, $5 every couple of weeks, maybe every other month or so. Then there are state taxes, $100-$200 a year, maybe more in other places. Tolls? $1.50 each way once a day equals $60 a month, just for the twenty or so business days when using toll roads. Then there is the upkeep. On an American car I'd assume on average over a year it comes out to maybe $1000. On foreign cars, especially European luxury models? Much higher. Then there are inspection stickers, or exhaust fees for some states: $200 a year in some places, $30 in others. And don't forget the insurance racket: $1500 a year? Maybe less, maybe more? Finally, we come to the price of the car in the first place. I think it's pretty hard to get into a car for less than, say, $14,000, so maybe a minimum payment of $400 a month for five years, so about $4800 a year? What's that come out to for a year: $10,000 just to drive one car! (Just imagine having two teens in the house?)
Wouldn't you rather save $8,000 a year and only pay $2,000 a year in infrastructure taxes to ride the subway? Or light rail? Or an excellent bus system? And improve our national rail network? As a part of the bargain you would walk more, get exercise, be healthier and as another bonus spend more time in closer quarters with your fellow Americans, building communities, making new friends, the chance meetings of people reading the same book on the metro or bus? (I salivate thinking of all the extra time to read books!)
Or, keep spending $10,000 a year on cars, building ever more far suburbs, locking ourselves in gated communities, shutting out our fellows, and fighting oil wars in the Middle East?
Seems like a simple choice to me. But then again, I'm here in Singapore. I walk to work. I walk to eat dinner down at the food stalls and meet new friends. I walk to go get a bit of coffee. I walk to the store to get a new iron, and ironing board and carry it with me back to my flat. (Or, you can always ride a bike!)
Of course, there are always valid excuses, but the "I have four kids and need a big SUV" isn't even close to being valid. Now, if you work on a farm? Or live in a deep rural community, sure, you need a car. But city dwellers? Not on your life.
What am I missing, that old, time worn, hackneyed excuse that a car equals the open road and freedom? Codswallop if you ask me! Have you ever ridden a train across country? Trust me when I tell you it is much more relxing and edifying than driving, tense traffic and big rigs blowing by you at the speed of light. And when it comes to trains versus planes? Well, their is simply no comparison.
Like I said, I've never understood our national obsession with cars. And financially it's beginning to look a lot less attractive.
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Comments: 14
SUVs should have been banned when they were first put out. They block vision, they can't get out of their own way and they're just plain ugly.
Well, thanks for this opportunity to vent my frustrations on cars and the like. Your article is right on. It's a never ending barrage of all kinds of payments.
Your article is Featured in the Triple Name Club.
Why rely on a 19th century solution to solve a 21st century problem?
Light rail is mostly the fantasy of young professionals living in urban areas for a few chic years before moving to a place where they actually raise their families.
The simple economics of mass transit revolves around a problem called "the final mile". In short, the problem is defined as "how far does one have to walk to mass transit then how far do they have to walk to their destination".
There is an astronomical difference in cost and commute time between the answers to that question.
Oh, I know...people will say, "I've been to New York, Chicago, London, Paris and Frankfurt and the mass transit there WORKS GREAT".
And they are right.........for some commuters, but people who say that really have not studied travel patterns in New York, Chicago, London, Paris and Frankfurt ----- nor have they studied the majority of America where people live in one suburb and work in another.
But then let's talk about solutions, pick one:
A) Spend $8 Trillion and two decades trying to meet the goal of 10% of our population commuting on mass transit.
B) Next Monday morning 10% of our workforce starts telecommuting.
Now which is the 19th century solution and which is the 21st century solution?
Personally, I would not want to rely on public transportation. I would be afraid for my safety and I don't like having to be certain places at certain times. But, I do live in a town with 5,000 people.
I don't drive my van to work most days because I telecommute from home.
wanna join my group, no dues required, no hidden fees, all u have to do is have the required degree of hatred towards everyone who drives a motor vehicle, self hatred, if you intend to drive yourself is acceptable!