Fewer Automobiles On The Roads

[iwasthere]

why?town look at the savings plus all the exercise that your wife will have by summer. she will look the the english model, twiggy.

[Why?Town]

I have been unemployed for a year next week but I figured out my wife's commute by bus.

5:45 am - leave home, walk on road two miles to nearest bus stop.
6:35 am - board bus to Federal Station
7:05 am - unboard bus
7:10 am - board bus to stop closest to her work
7:35 am - unboard bus, walk on road 1/8 mile
7:45 am - arrive at work
Total 2 hours.

4:30 pm - leave work, walk on road 1/8 miles to nearest bus stop.
4:40 pm - wait 22 minutes for next bus
5:02 pm - board bus to Federal Station
5:30 pm - unboard bus
5:30 pm - wait 40 minutes for next bus
6:10 pm - board bus to stop closest to home
6:35 pm - unboard bus, walk on road 2 miles
7:25 pm - arrive at home
Total 2 hours 55 minutes.

Total 4 hours and 55 minutes  + 4 1/4 miles to walk vs. about 50 minutes total in a car.

Even not figuring in the walking time, the bus is still 2 hours and 25 minutes longer each day.

[iwasthere]

why not use the wrta bus systems to save on license's fees and insurance premiums.

[Why?Town]

three registered vehicle for two drivers here. only two are insured as my VW truck isn't going out in the salt, I figure since it's made it 26 years with minimal rust, why destroy it now?

I used to have three year round vehicles + the VW.

[AllanY2525]

I wonder how many of those "registered motor vehicles" are actually
privately owned, personal "cars" - and not specialty vehicles such as small
delivery vans, motor homes, etc.

What about people who have a dead car in the driveway (still registered) and
bought a second "el cheapo" car to carry them over until they can fix the dead
one in the driveway, etc...

Here in Montgomery County, MD the law requires all vehicles to display current
tags, whether they are in running condition or not - you can't even store an
unregistered vehicle in your own garage for cripe's sake.

I, too own multiple vehicles - and each one has a specific, legitimate purpose.
One is a small, economy car for everyday driving.  One is an SUV for long road
trips, pulling my camper, driving during bad weather (snow) and hauling around family and friends, the dog, etc.

The third is an old E350 Truck that I use for my small business.

[Elmo-Ytown]

I own two cars and will be buying a third one as soon as I find one that is cheap and reliable. My wife and I both work with schedules that don't allow us to use the same car, and we also drive a good distance to our jobs, so a third car makes sense to me in case one of the others breaks down. I'm also looking at buying a trailer.

[Rick Rowlands]

From the article:
"Brown delves much deeper into this issue that the US may have reached a "car saturation" point, though. We have " 246 million registered motor vehicles and 209 million licensed drivers--nearly 5 vehicles for every 4 drivers" in the US. Doesn't it seem a little absurd to have more cars than drivers?"

This statement proves to me that the writer is a city dweller, one who probably has never owned an acre of land in his life.  For a city dweller one car to one person makes perfect sense since you only need one car to go everywhere you want to go and do everything you want to do. However, once you become a property owner you quickly see the need to have at least two vehicles.  You'll need a pickup to haul around machines, equipment and supplies to work on your land, but since pickups are not as efficient you may still want a family car to drive when the pickup is not needed.  Makes perfect sense to someone who lives outside of a city.

This unintentional bias toward the rural population is so prevalent, with the nucleus of reporters, pundits and professional talking heads living in metropolitan areas in apartments or condos. 

[woozle]

I'm the odd one out here.. I own Seven cars three motorcycles.. and I plan on buying more too.. I keep them all full of gas just in case I need to drive any of them.. By the way most of them are Classics or collectables.. 

[jay]

This is one location for the original article.

www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=4000000-fewer-vehicles-on-us-roads-2010-01

[AllanY2525]

There was a (very old and outdated) statistic I read a long time ago, which
stated that the average American family owned 2.4 cars.

I know, I know,. what is ".4" cars?  A couple spare tires, a transmission and
a radio?  [tongue in cheek]

With the current crisis in the national economy, maybe folks either can't
afford to own multiple vehicles, or can't afford to own a vehicle at all?

[jay]

There is a report out which claimes there were 4,000,000 fewer cars on the roads of the United States in 2009.  Part of the report states that 10,000,000 cars were manufactured but 14,000,000 were junked.

Is America's love affair with the automobile ending?

Ride the WRTA
Youngstown's transportation bargain