The effect of fuel costs on mass transit is much smaller than on personal motor vehicles though. So yeah, “just take the bus” is a pretty big step in the right direction, relatively speaking.
‘It’s literally going to break me.’ Commuting is now unaffordable for some American workers
Here is my first comment:
Given the cost of fuel, a bus pass for me (if I still had to commute, I work from home now) for a month is now just over $800/mo.
6 years ago, that was $375/mo.
I don’t think the issue is limited to car drivers, I suspect more than a few folks who took public transit with me are looking at a pretty impactful monthly cost.
So no, its not. Its a massively increasing cost that is continuing to trend upward.
Its about as helpful to folks who are being impacted by this as “Just don’t go to work!” or “Ride a bike for 50 miles each way every day, problem solved!”
What “just take the bus” does is shift the blame onto the individual being impacted, made worse by the fact that many of those impacted by these rising costs are already taking mass transit. This isn’t a “car” problem. This is a “commuter” problem.
Given the cost of fuel, a bus pass for me (if I still had to commute, I work from home now) for a month is now just over $800/mo. 6 years ago, that was $375/mo.
And you think that the fare increase there is driven by fuel costs alone? Or even that fuel cost is in any way a significant portion of the change?
When the cost of fuel goes down, so does the cost of the pass. The price of diesel has nearly doubled in the past year, and about to hit a new record high. And that has mostly happened in the past month and change.
Pretending fuel costs aren’t a factor is foolish.
The rest of it, however, is a direct result of other stupid policies.
I will repeat myself yet again - the rising costs of commuting are impacting far more than just car drivers, and fuel costs soaring are a part of that.
The effect of fuel costs on mass transit is much smaller than on personal motor vehicles though. So yeah, “just take the bus” is a pretty big step in the right direction, relatively speaking.
Here is the title of the post:
Here is my first comment:
So no, its not. Its a massively increasing cost that is continuing to trend upward.
Its about as helpful to folks who are being impacted by this as “Just don’t go to work!” or “Ride a bike for 50 miles each way every day, problem solved!”
What “just take the bus” does is shift the blame onto the individual being impacted, made worse by the fact that many of those impacted by these rising costs are already taking mass transit. This isn’t a “car” problem. This is a “commuter” problem.
And you think that the fare increase there is driven by fuel costs alone? Or even that fuel cost is in any way a significant portion of the change?
Not. A. Chance.
A good chunk of it is, actually.
When the cost of fuel goes down, so does the cost of the pass. The price of diesel has nearly doubled in the past year, and about to hit a new record high. And that has mostly happened in the past month and change.
Pretending fuel costs aren’t a factor is foolish.
The rest of it, however, is a direct result of other stupid policies.
I will repeat myself yet again - the rising costs of commuting are impacting far more than just car drivers, and fuel costs soaring are a part of that.