What are you Paying for Gasoline? Petrol Prices Around the World

[Claes Gefvenberg]

I too purchased an alternate ride: Yamaha Royal Star Venture, 48mpg

Way ahead of you... I ride a two wheeler too. I'm not quite sure however, how far a gallon of sweat will take me?

Ride safe and keep an eye out for the morons with cell phones. I've been riding two years and 99.9% of my "close encounters of the IDIOT kind" have been drivers with a phone to their ear.

Amen to that... and if they're late for work the danger increases tenfold...

/Claes

 

[Hershal]

You want idiot drivers, come to So Cal....or we can export them to you

Gas prices are not the worst of it.....although it is a big part, but there are other concerns.....

Drivers with phones to their ears (m and f), peabrains that want to do 55 in the #1 or #2 lane when other lanes are doing 80, no signals, putting on make-up, reading (paper, novel, etc.), and W-A-Y-Y-Y-Y too many doing some combination of the above. The worst is the one who is on the cell AND putting on make-up (either m or f, it is CA after all). Let's see, have I forgotten anyone?

And travel here.....distance is measured in time, not mileage or KM......and depends on a few variables.....

Where you are, where you want to get to, what day it is, what time of day it is, what freeway(s) you have to take, what part of the freeway you are on, what lane you are in, if there is rain, if it is fire season, if there is a sig alert (unplanned lane closure of 30 minutes or more, called by the Highway Patrol), if CalTrans is working....I think that is pretty much it. Anyone care to try Measurement Uncertainty calcs here?

Hershal

 

[Bill Pflanz]

I can't do anything about the cost of fuel but I can control how much I use. Over the weekend I bought a new Toyota Prius - a gas-electric hybrid. I still have to pay as much but a full tank takes me three time further. Graeme

Actually what you have done will do something about the cost of fuel - it will just take more like you and time. If the number of gas-electric hybrids sold reduced the demand of gasoline even by 5%, the price of crude oil and gasoline would decline significantly.

I did the same thing back in 1980 when I got rid of my 12 miles per gallon sports car and bought my first Japanese car - a Toyota. After peaking at $32 per barrel in 1981, the price of crude fell consistently until 1986 when it dropped about $10 per barrel in one year due to the steady improvement of gas mileage in cars and the recession brought on by the high cost of fuel.

The added bonus of buying the Toyota was the quality of it. I believe the PBS show (If Japan Can, Why Can't We) that started the re-birth of quality and made Deming well known occurred in 1980 also.

If I had not just bought a new truck (18 miles per gallon), I would probably shop for better mileage myself.

Thanks for doing your part.

Bill Pflanz

 

[Govind]

Back to Basics- after Gas price hike!

If it is any consolation to our American friends, the Gas price seems to be relatively cheaper in the United States compared Ontario, Canada. From What Iam seeing from various postings here and watching US Channels, the average seems to be US$2.00/US Gallon. Here we are paying from 89cents/Litre to 95Cents/Litre. (Occassionaly, $1/litre in Toronto, Montreal). US Gallon= Litre*3.785, USD=CDN$*1.3913. This comes to US$ 2.50/Gallon. :mg:

This is getting very crazy. Nevertheless, people have not changed their routine.
Local TV channels are speculating that Canadian threshold as $1.30/Litre
(US$3.53/Gallon) to really start to panic and park the car at home.

How about you guys? Any threshold in mind? At what price you would dust your bicycle and pedal to office?

Govind.

 

[Claes Gefvenberg]

At what price you would dust your bicycle and pedal to office?

I'm already well past that treshold. I drive when I have to, and pedal for the rest of the time.

I remember when people said that the pain barrier would be at about half the current price. It's fascinating in a way to see how everyone gets used to a higher and higher price for petrol due to the way it's done: small but pretty frequent increases....

(Or in other words: the fine art of boiling a frog - If you throw it into hot water it jumps straight out, but if the water is luke warm, the frog likes it and stays. You can then slowly increase the temperature, and finally the frog is boiled. )

I suspect that the true barrier is to be found where we no longer have the money to pay for the stuff.

/Claes

 

[Wes Bucey]

I'm already well past that treshold. I drive when I have to, and pedal for the rest of the time.

I remember when people said that the pain barrier would be at about half the current price. It's fascinating in a way to see how everyone gets used to a higher and higher price for petrol due to the way it's done: small but pretty frequent increases....

(Or in other words: the fine art of boiling a frog - If you throw it into hot water it jumps straight out, but if the water is luke warm, the frog likes it and stays. You can then slowly increase the temperature, and finally the frog is boiled. )

I suspect that the true barrier is to be found where we no longer have the money to pay for the stuff.

/Claes

The one stress point I am seeing very recently is news reports of a spate of "driveoffs" (driver fills tank at self-serve pump, then leaves without paying.) Many SUVs have 25 gallon or larger fuel tanks. At $2.159 (this morning's price at Citgo.) That can blow a station's profit on the next 10 or 20 cars.

Station response has been universal to program pumps to only allow pre-pay via cash to cashier or using a credit card. Until recently, this was done only on the night shift. Now, every station in my area has the pre-pay system in effect 24 hours/day.

 

[Claes Gefvenberg]

The one stress point I am seeing very recently is news reports of a spate of "driveoffs"

You are right, that is a very good (and sad) indicator...

 

[RoxaneB]

How about you guys? Any threshold in mind? At what price you would dust your bicycle and pedal to office?

I heard on my drive in that some stations in the north part of Toronto were selling gas at 0.72/L....quite the bargain now!

As for dusting off my bike, that's a great idea...if I worked just around the corner. Right now my commute to work is over 40km via hilly backroads - it would be even longer (yet probably faster) if I took the 401 (major highway in the area for those who don't know).

That guy who made the locals news for not paying when the prices first jumped apparently used to own a gas station! His son paid the $5 he owed to the gas station and I think everything's been dropped now.

 

[Jstain1]

Frogger

(Or in other words: the fine art of boiling a frog - If you throw it into hot water it jumps straight out, but if the water is luke warm, the frog likes it and stays. You can then slowly increase the temperature, and finally the frog is boiled. )


/Claes

reminds me of a joke:



A scientist decides to test a hypothesis of his.

He sets a frog on a table top and shouts jump, the frog, startled, jumps.

He takes a sharp knife and cuts a leg off, :mg: he shouts jump, the frog kind of flops. The scientist scribbles some notes.

He takes the knife again, and cuts another leg off. He shouts jump :mg: , the frog struggles a bit more, but manges to flop. The scientist scribbles some notes.

He takes the knife again, and cuts another leg off. He shouts jump :mg: , the frog struggles even more, but manges to flop. The scientist scribbles some notes.

He cuts the last leg off and shouts jump. The frog doesn't move . The scientist shouts louder JUMP! Still the frog doesn't move .

The scientist thereby concludes:




As you cut off a frogs legs it will eventualy grow deaf.

 

[Graeme]

Do not read the link while eating!

Oklahoma $1.859.
I too purchased an alternate ride: Yamaha Royal Star Venture, 48mpg

Sam - I thought of that as well, but was vetoed by the wife. Besides, the traffic around Atlanta really stinks! (AJC 2004-05-18 - link expires after 5-24)

SteelWoman, one accessory I found useful the last time I had a bike (several decades ago) was a hand-operated boat horn - a can of pressurized air with a LOUD horn and a trigger - mounted in a convient location. A blast of that will move most 4-wheelers two or three lanes out of your way. As for anything bigger, well, the "law of gross tonnage" takes precedence.

Semper Fi,