[jester]

Ah, here are some things to consider guys.

1.) America has been a car culture since we burst onto the world scene. Then we were the largest producer for fuel, even for export. Then again that was just comming out of a time when gasoline was a useless waste product. But, we have been a car culture for about 100 years at this point. So, how do we change something that has been so deeply engrained in our culture over night?

2.) As a resule of the above, we do not have a large reliable mass transit in many areas, especialy west of the Missississippi, so basicaly half the country is without a good, working system. They had one in the metro Southern California area prior to the 1960s, but they got rid of it, because of the car culture. But, it would not have kept up with demand today and now we are caught in a lurch and now scrambling to make stop gap rail systems localy. Remember, even passenger cross country travel by rail is not everywhere. AMTRAK a private concern that is funded by the government just so this country does have a passenger rail system has actualy reduced the routes it travels and the number of stops at many of the routes it maintains. And their buisness has been on the upswing due to the high cost and terrible treatment the airlines have managed to do. Simply put, we have a inadeuqate local or national rail system for passenger service and such has been the case since my father was a boy.

As an aside, this could be an interesting thing in the T2K world with the shuttling of troops around the nation. Sending them from the midwest to the West Coast where they would sail by ship to the Asian or Alaskan front, or from California to Europe.

3.) We are a pretty large country. And without a reliable or far reaching mass transit what is the solution?

Those are just some of the things.

As for the cost of fuel, it was about $1.50 and sometimes less than 1.00.

About a year ago, I recall filling up my gas tank the evening before my last surgery, fuel was 1.90, within a few weeks it jumped to 2.50, and kept climbing, 3.00, 3.50, then iit broke 4.00 and within what four months ago peaked at 4.80, some places it had broken the 5.00 a gallon mark. And now it is in the 2.50 range. But a jump from the 1.90 to 5.00 mark is an increase of 150% in a year. That is beyond the pale, and can an economy, especialy one that is geared around the internal combustion engine take a hit like that, and a price increase in that short of time without negative consequences?

Just some thoughts.