[extropy-chat] Public Transportation

[Mike Lorrey]

--- Samantha Atkins <sjatkins at mac.com> wrote:
> 
> On Mar 23, 2005, at 5:02 PM, J. Andrew Rogers wrote:
> 
> > Brian Lee wrote:
> >> I'm guessing it's because it is cheaper to make an entry
> >> level car with a crappy engine that gets 30mpg than an
> >> entry level car with a less crappy engine that gets 50mpg.
> >
> >
> > The 50mpg engines were actually less efficient than the 30mpg
> engines,
> > they were just much smaller.  Better gas milage has nothing to do
> with
> > whether or not the engine is "crappy".
> >
> > To put it in simple economic terms, the fuel economy differences
> today
> > between a two-ton mid-size sedan with a 0-60 in the mid sixes and
> one 
> > of
> > the funky subcompact hybrids is about 100 gallons per year.  Or
> > $20/month, and less than a lightbulb's worth of CO2 generation. 
> This
> > makes the choice obvious to most people, and the point of the
> sacrifice
> > dubious.
> 
> What do you mean?  I used to commute 500 miles a week.  At 50mpg that
> is 10 gallons.  At 25 mpg it is 20.  That is 500 gallons a year 
> difference wthout even considering non-commute miles.  So exactly
> what are you claiming?  That most Americans average around 50 miles a
> week?  I very much doubt it.

The average daily commute as I recall is somewhere around 20-25 miles.

However the point is that the Geo was a lighter vehicle with lower
safety standards and lower passenger capacity than todays economy cars.
Today's 35 mpg engine is hauling more car and more people at that
milage than the Geo at 50 mpg, so when you calculate in the end the
miles per gallon per person, you wind up with a more efficient vehicle
that has even lower emissions and is safer to drive.

Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com


		
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