  Drankin21 Member Username: Drankin21 Post Number: 197 Registered: 12-2003 |
Can't change my driving habits. My job requires it. However, if gritting my teeth while driving counts as a habit, since that has started now, it can be considered a change. | ||
Rel Member Username: Rel Post Number: 385 Registered: 02-2008 |
Drankin, someone needs to research how to make a device that uses the energy you use gritting your teeth, and converts it into alternative energy to power your car! | ||
Qdaddy77 Member Username: Qdaddy77 Post Number: 123 Registered: 05-2007 |
Thanks Detroit rise....go from home to work... 610 - Harper/Vernier 6:27 arrive Macomb Mall 6:50 760 -Macomb Mall 6:54 arrive 13/telegraph(end of line) 8:12 Total Transit time: 1:42 My Average Drive time: 42mins Work to home 760 - 13/telegraph 4:15 arrive Macomb Mall 5:42 615 - Macomb Mall 5:55 arrive Mack/Vernier 6:12 total transit time: 1:57 My Average Drive time: 1 hour so, taking the bus would add 2 hours to my travel time to work, taking away a lot of family time. I guess I just have to say, is the extra money I spend on gas and polluting the planet worth the extra time with my family? Until Metro detroit has a better option, I have to say, YES. | ||
Janesback Member Username: Janesback Post Number: 427 Registered: 08-2006 |
I wont be taking my usual drives in the hill country to see the wildflowers and bluebonnets this year up in Fredricksburg and near Austin. Sad, really sad, but as I budget more, I end up with less. I saw where our gas is 3.09 for regular, but its going up again. I think oil closed $106.49 yesterday, so from what I hear $3.50 will be the norm for regular for the summer. Anyone price milk and eggs lately? Now coffee is going up too. When will it end? | ||
Darwinism Member Username: Darwinism Post Number: 717 Registered: 06-2005 |
Higgs1634 and Qdaddy77 hit the nail right on the head. Think about your own experiences on I-696; could we safely estimate that 75% of them are totally miserable and wishing that there is a rapid rail zooming by from east to west and vice versa ? The question is no longer whether gas prices would hit $4, or $5, or $6 per gallon ..... the question is WHEN and how bad is it going to affect you. Bear in mind that it doesn't just punch a hole in your vehicle's gas tank - high gas prices over time will also cause grocery prices and other products/services to go up drastically in prices as well. | ||
Miketoronto Member Username: Miketoronto Post Number: 791 Registered: 07-2004 |
The thing people is that transit is not always faster. Infact the majority of transit riders even in the cities with the best transit, usually spend a little extra time commuting by transit, then car. So you have to be up for that. Qdaddy77 route is just sad, and you can see why people would still drive. Two hours is just way to much to ask someone to sit on transit. | ||
Raptor56 Member Username: Raptor56 Post Number: 280 Registered: 05-2007 |
Is there a spot on the SMART website where I can enter in my start and destination address, and it would tell me which routes and transfers to take? I'm curious to see how feasible taking the bus to and from work would be, | ||
Deteamster Member Username: Deteamster Post Number: 98 Registered: 07-2007 |
Yes Raptor. It's not on SMART but its on this newfangled google transit thingy. http://www.google.com/transit It also helps to use the SMART website for reference. Google transit isn't perfect. I still believe little things like this could go a long way in improving our transit. Now they just need to do DDOT. | ||
Wolverine Member Username: Wolverine Post Number: 434 Registered: 04-2004 |
Fuel costs haven't effected me as much except when I do long distance trips. Since I live in Ann Arbor, I can do all my trips to shop, work, or go to class by walking or taking the bus. I've taken the train to Detroit a few times which wasn't too expensive ~ $10. or if I travel to other places (such as Chicago) I can carpool with my friends, take the train, or megabus.... which if planned a couple weeks in advance is only $1. My car isn't very fuel efficient, so I've already sought an alternative, and it's working. | ||
Raptor56 Member Username: Raptor56 Post Number: 281 Registered: 05-2007 |
Thanks Deteamster! This kind of bums me out. my 12 mile 15-20 min ride to work down 94/696 from SCS to Madison Heights would be over an hour with the bus. However, If I'm figuring out the fare properly, it would only cost me about $2 each way. If you figure at 12 mpg, I use up one gallon of gas each way to/from work, I would see a savings of around $1+ per trip ($2 for bus vs $3+ for a gallon of gas). Although this is a significant cash savings over the course of a year, is a $2 per day savings worth spending an extra 2 hours a day to ride the bus? In essence I'm paying myself a buck an hour to ride the bus instead of drive. It's the old how much is my time worth dilemma... | ||
Evelyn Member Username: Evelyn Post Number: 164 Registered: 02-2005 |
I’m with Bussey. One of the reasons I left Detroit was the driving/mass transit problem. I couldn’t find a job in my field in the city, and I didn’t want to commute, or freeze waiting at a bus stop. I live about nine miles away from my job, and with gas prices and car maintenance, I’m about to look for a new job. The convenience of a car just isn’t worth the cost or the carbon footprint. It would be nice if Michigan took the money they dump into highway construction, and invested in some light rail instead. Or bus lanes, bus repair, better bus stops that are well lit and clearly marked, more bicycle lanes, and bike racks on all buses. Gas prices aren’t coming down anytime soon and cars aren’t an economically sustainable form of transportation. I’ve heard the tired line that mass transit isn’t self-supporting- well, neither are cars. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2848 Registered: 01-2005 |
I live in a 'golf cart' community. I'm seeing more and more of my neighbors with carts for hauls to the nearby shopping center. The stores even have separate parking slots marked off for them. No, I don't have one yet, but the prospect is looking better and better every day. I tried a bicycle two years back, but my 71 year old knees told me that was a no-go. | ||
Rax Member Username: Rax Post Number: 174 Registered: 11-2007 |
quote: When was that? | ||
Marianewtothed Member Username: Marianewtothed Post Number: 22 Registered: 05-2007 |
I commute approximately 4-5 miles to work. I'm seriously thinking about biking it. Only problem, there are few if any sidewalks on my route. | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1992 Registered: 05-2005 |
i appreciate how scary riding your bike can be on some of the busier streets, especially those in the burbs, but riding on the sidewalk is dangerous too (and technically unlawful i believe) see if you can find some alternate routes through neighborhoods or on secondary streets. if gas gets really bad, my girl and i will end up carpooling in her high mpg civic to a semi-central location between our suburban jobs, then she will walk the rest of the way and i will bike. (Message edited by gravitymachine on March 11, 2008) | ||
Raptor56 Member Username: Raptor56 Post Number: 285 Registered: 05-2007 |
With gas prices rocketing upwards, we may start to see the return of the Moped. | ||
Wolverine Member Username: Wolverine Post Number: 435 Registered: 04-2004 |
I disagree It's safer on the sidewalks than the streets in the suburbs. Look at the number of empty sidewalks. Someone might as well use them. | ||
Club_boss Member Username: Club_boss Post Number: 324 Registered: 12-2006 |
Fresh from California... $3.49 $3.69 $3.79 | ||
Miketoronto Member Username: Miketoronto Post Number: 792 Registered: 07-2004 |
Its funny to hear you guys mention the travel times via bus compared to car. There are places in Toronto where transit is competative with the car. But for a large number of us transit users, that is the very thing we do. I could drive to school in 20-30min in zero traffic. But by transit it takes me 50-60min. So that is the price you pay for taking transit. There are benefits like being able to read, realax, etc. But transit in most cases is atleast going to take a little longer then driving in zero traffic conditions, etc. | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 383 Registered: 12-2007 |
Went to a lecture last week for the Urban Land Institute...Someone from Washington DC spoke and said that the areas around their New transit stops have, to put it in no better way, have exploded with up to 600% growth in housing and commercial development. Come on detroit...get on board... | ||
Ltdave Member Username: Ltdave Post Number: 119 Registered: 09-2006 |
""Your country friends have provided you with poor perception of the city and suburban life."" no they havent. ive lived the suburban life and in the city (not detroit but in the city) and i choose NOT to... ""Not all the suburbs are filled with huge "mcmansions" and not all of Detroit is filled with "the projects." or older homes. If you took the time to look you could see that."" no. they are not but i dont care for cookie cutter 3bd 2bt ranches that look like everyone elses. the older apartment complexes and the newer apartment/condo complexes look like 'the projects' to me, and the really neat homes like in B-E or Indian Village are OLDER homes. i just finished a pretty extensive electrical job in B-E and most of those homes are in pretty poor shape. im sure its because they arent older... ""n addition, what makes you think you're not polluting the air everyday during your commute on I-94 (Gratiot, whatever)? "" i never said i wasnt polluting but since you bring it up, my hybrid is pretty clean i think... go re-read my first post (#4 of the thread) then read it again. ""So how can you complain?"" im not... ""You turn down alternative options, so just put up or shut up. "" i only turn down the bus because IT LEAVES AFTER I HAVE TO BE AT WORK. oh, i guess i am putting up. putting up with self-righteous, narcissistic knuckleheads who cant accept that not everyone wants to live in the city. especially one being run by Mr Hip-Hop mayor and the $9,000,000 collected in taxes the city has paid for his arrogance and immaturity. his unprincipled lifestyle affects everyone. but i digress... ""Well, fine. Then don't ever complain about gas prices. You made your bed."" i can always complain. thats why i live in AMERICA and not some despotic eastern european country. besides, being in the commodities market, the higher the oil price the more money i make... ""They're just telling you that what you're doing is stupid." thats your opinion with no basis in fact. i could adopt that position and say "living in detroit is stupid". in fact if you look at the FAILING police presence, the FAILING school system, the FAILING home market, the FAILING infrastructure, im not so sure my opinion ISNT closer to fact. i dont have any burned out street lights, my garbage is picked up regularly, my snow is plowed within hours of its accumulation, property taxes are low, the EMS first responders are all of 4 miles away (i had to use them once for my daughter who was suffering an asthma attack) and there is no city income tax here (only what the good city of detroit takes and then refuses or drags their feet on refunding, overpayment). i could go on but why.. ive carpooled for many years. in fact a large percent of us stupid people up here already carpool. im not currently because ive been doing side work in detroit and my co-workers arent but we can resume on a moments notice... | ||
Evelyn Member Username: Evelyn Post Number: 166 Registered: 02-2005 |
Rax- I moved out of Detroit at the end of December, 2006. I live in the southwest now. | ||
Danindc Member Username: Danindc Post Number: 4006 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: Then you choose to pay whatever gasoline costs. End of argument. | ||
Novine Member Username: Novine Post Number: 464 Registered: 07-2007 |
Tried Google Transit: "Your search for transit directions from novi, mi to anywhere, mi appears to be outside our current coverage area." Same old story for southeast Michigan! | ||
Trainman Member Username: Trainman Post Number: 655 Registered: 04-2006 |
Maybe Livonia will vote SMART back in? | ||
Mayor_sekou Member Username: Mayor_sekou Post Number: 1959 Registered: 09-2006 |
$3.45 in Lansing today. | ||
Spiritofdetroit Member Username: Spiritofdetroit Post Number: 864 Registered: 11-2006 |
random fact Sekou - I saw you driving today in Lansing.... | ||
Bussey Member Username: Bussey Post Number: 643 Registered: 12-2003 |
Evelyn, I think Rax was referring to, when was it that Detroit had a traffic/mass transit problem, not when was it you left Detroit. To everyone else, this topic is one that will severely cripple our economy in the future. Just like our "Big 3" are now suffering due to their reliance on SUV and Trucks as a result of high gas prices so will our consumer economy suffer when people cannot spend as much when most of their disposable income goes towards gasoline due to our recent planning trends of cul-de-sacs and garage door prominence. To the guy from Ft. Gratiot, lighten up. I wasn't calling you out or slamming you, I only said WTF because that is one hell of a commute you have. Easy... | ||
Mayor_sekou Member Username: Mayor_sekou Post Number: 1960 Registered: 09-2006 |
"Sekou - I saw you driving today in Lansing" Really? Did my plates give it away? | ||
Spiritofdetroit Member Username: Spiritofdetroit Post Number: 866 Registered: 11-2006 |
Yep. That did it - turning onto the freeway from Kalamazoo Street |
