More Gas Jitters

Yesterday’s news that BP will be shutting down a major pipeline in Alaska, cutting off about 8% of our daily oil consumption, is bad news at the gas pump.  Many people are turning to mass transit.  In a previous blog entry, I talked about my commute to work versus my girlfriend’s commute.

I have a 12 minute walk to the Laurel train station, followed by a 28 minute ride on a MARC Camden Line express train to Union Station (the NARP office is adjacent to Union Station).  Just by my non-scientific observations, I can see an increase in passenger counts on the trains I ride.  We are standing room only out of Muirkirk some mornings, and leaving Union Station in the evening.  I don’t experience “gas pains” at all.  The $125 monthly fare I pay is far lower than what gas plus parking would be.

In contrast to my commute, Amanda feels gas pains: the only way for her to travel to her suburban Baltimore job is by single-occupant automobile.  There is no public transportation option, so she puts at least 80 miles a day on her car.  Despite the fact that we bought a new Honda Civic a little more than a month ago (at 39-40 mpg on the highway), we’re at the gas station twice a week for a fill-up.  As any good boyfriend would do (well, one that doesn’t want to sleep on the couch), I buy a tank for her every now and then.  Then, I experience “gas pains” myself.

The silence from Congress and the Administration on a sustainable transportation policy is deafening.  The Senate may act on S.1516, the bi-partisan Amtrak reauthorization, after the August recess.  But the fact is that prospects look dim in the House, despite the efforts of strong Amtrak supporters like Steve LaTourette (R-OH) and Jim Oberstar (D-MN).  The results of the November mid-term election will likely dictate where our national transportation policy heads…or does not head.

—Dave Johnson