Sun 21 Aug 2005
How much does it cost to fill up a Ford Excursion in Washington state?
Posted by Luke under Whatever
A small price to pay for freedom…
I just got back from a trip out to Washington state, and while the scenery is nice, their gas prices are horrific. As much as New Jersey sucks about some things, we do have the cheapest gas in town…go us.
August 22nd, 2005 at 8:37 am
Yeah, NJ’s gas prices are the best around. That’s why I always fill up on Monday’s when I hang out with my friend that lives there.
I wonder how people actually deal with having to pay that every week or so? I have a ‘99 Ford Escort ZX2 (26/33 mpg which I typically put 8.5 gallons in a week) and I am feeling a pinch to my budget at $20 a fill up (of course prior to $2 a gallon I never even noticed how much I paid for gas.)
Of course I really feel for my friend in London where it is close to the same price, per liter!
August 22nd, 2005 at 1:07 pm
It now costs me $30 to fill my Mazda Protege (26/31)- usually about 12.5 gallons - roughly once a week. CT gas is pricy because of taxes but it isn’t as bad as Washington. Of course, it isn’t far behind, either.
August 22nd, 2005 at 2:22 pm
I have a decision to make soon, since it is likely my office will move within walking distance of the Metropark train station on the NJTransit Northeast Corridor line. From Hamilton Station to Metropark - 32 minutes. Driving house to Hamilton Station - 34 minutes = approx 1 hour, 6 minutes. This is exactly the same time it would take to drive to Metropark from home. However, the train route involves additional time for parking, waiting for train, and walking to office.
But the car method does not account for traffic which is also terrible.
Company will reimburse for train ticket, maybe for paid parking at train station. Will cut gas usage in half, be somewhat greener, but also could take much longer. Of course, I could do something else on the train that I couldn’t do in the car…sleep, read, watch a movie, ponder my miserable existence fully, etc.
what to do, what to do…
August 23rd, 2005 at 11:43 am
I know your plight, Jonathan. When I started working at my new job I had the ability to take the high speed line to get to work. It was a 10 minute walk and a 10 minute train ride or 20 minutes door to door (if timed exactly.) That worked great for me (and the price was cheap and gave me benefits at work in the form of 20 trips = $20 gift certificate to B&N or something along those lines.)
Then I moved because I was getting married and we needed to live closer to my wife’s job. Now there is a train station 2 blocks from my house but the commute now takes me 50 minutes by train now and driving takes 35-45 minutes. I am more relaxed and ready to start the day when I take the train, but it is 2 hours (or 120 minutes) of my life as opposed to 70 to 90 minutes.
Costs were the same when I was only putting $20 in my tank, but now every dollar extra I put in is another dollar I could save by taking the train.
I guess I rambled a bit there. I wish I had an answer for you, but saddly I don’t since you can see I am wrestling with the same decision. I think I’m going to start trying to take the train a little more often and see how it goes from there.
August 23rd, 2005 at 12:23 pm
I just fear falling asleep and missing my stop, waking up in Manhattan!
August 24th, 2005 at 9:56 am
Rising gas prices may really be a blessing in disguise. For a long time, I’ve thought (or maybe even known) that green energy programs would not take hold until there was an economic need. People (sadly, myself included) are more concerned with the cash in their wallet and their own ease of living than they are about the environment. I am considering taking the bus to work from now on in light of recent gas increases.
Of course I still have the same major problem as Jeremy… time. Taking the bus would turn my commute from 20 minutes to a little less than hour between walking to the bus stop, waiting for the bus, riding the bus, and walking to work (and then I get to do all over again at the end of the day when all I want to do is be as far away from work as soon as possible).
With current gas prices, I’ll probably save some money monthly, but time is a valuable thing… and a few dollars savings may not convince many people. However, as the prices rise, I predict that more people will get over time and inconvience issues in favor of savings available from public transit and alternate power sources. As corporations see the shift in public interest, they may increase development of power/transportation alternatives.
So, let the prises rise… (*ducks*) It may give a financial (if not moral) kick in the butt to people like myself to be a little nicer to the environment.
August 24th, 2005 at 11:31 am
Jonathan posted: “I just fear falling asleep and missing my stop, waking up in Manhattan!”
Bah! You won’t fear that after it happens once or twice. Its not like you’ll end up in Camden or Trenton (like I would.)
Now for Dave:
Rising prices may force people to live a little greener, but there are other problems associated with that. Delivery costs, ticket prices, and even heating bills will all increase also. So much of our economy will be hit it will hurt everyone across the board. The worst though will be this winters heating bills especially since stockpiles look to be a little on the light side side of things (reuters article here.)
Thankfully heat is included in my rent (though I almost pitty the landlords, almost.
August 24th, 2005 at 2:47 pm
Change is never easy. If it was, we would be using electric based heaters powered by solar panels instead of oil based heaters. Today… this might not be efficient enough to heat a home. (I haven’t done the research.) But why would companies invest in that technology while people are more than willing to burn oil. Most us (I assume) are not poor people, we can afford to cut back on entertainment spending. If the prices go up, eventually this will cramp our style. People generally don’t like that, so they will seek alternatives to uncramp their style. Will it suck? Yes, it will. But it may be a neccesary step toward more environment friendly energy sources.
August 29th, 2005 at 12:41 am
I actually want to write something about why gas taxes should be higher to shock people into conservation. Need more hard numbers, though. And more time!
But basically, I agree with Dave. People simply won’t change until it becomes a hardship! Prices are going up either way. The government may as well get that money rather than oil companies.
August 29th, 2005 at 9:35 pm
Food or gas? Soon, all of us will be forced to answer that question.
August 30th, 2005 at 9:57 am
“Food or gas? Soon, all of us will be forced to answer that question.” -Axismaster
I think that is a little over the top. Firstly the oil prices had been sittin way below the rise of inflation for a long time. Secondly, during World War 2 and the oil crisis of the 1970’s people got by on less. They did more car pooling, or rode a bike, or simply went out less or did less.
I’d be more worried if I was in the entertainment industry (restaurants, movies, rental stores, etc.) They will be hit first before we decide food or gas. The movie industry is already worried about this (link to NYT here.)
On a side note, I took the train in today. I’m doing my part!
August 30th, 2005 at 10:35 pm
“Firstly the oil prices had been sittin way below the rise of inflation for a long time. Secondly, during World War 2 and the oil crisis of the 1970’s people got by on less.”
Yea, but back then we weren’t closing in on the global peak…thats the problem here, not running out, but the irreversible decline in production coupled with the huge difference in population and consumption as compared to the “crisis” (which was a fake one, this one is real) of the 70’s.
The point that we might be facing some rather drastic lifestyle changes in the coming years is a very valid one, choosing between food or gas isn’t anything that we’ll have to worry about (cause really, who would choose gas?), but his point stands in my opinion.
August 30th, 2005 at 10:39 pm
Oh, and prices are not “way below” inflation anymore either.
Also, to hell with inflation.
September 1st, 2005 at 9:58 pm
“Also, to hell with inflation.”
Also, yeah.
I’m already thinking of getting rid of my car. I need to eat dammit.
March 12th, 2007 at 6:15 am
This is borderline disgusting.
A car that plows through 8.5 USG a WEEK ? No wonder Americans are completely oblivious to what they do to the environment.
A quick comparison.
The Fuel Price depicted is about 2.8 USD / USG on average.
1 USG equals 3.74 liters ( all hail the metric system ).
So that would make about 2.8 USD/ 3.74 L or 0.748 USD / L
Let’s jump over the pond now to Europe. The European fuel price is on average 1.35 EURO / L
The current exchange course USD to EURO is around 1.314 to 1.
Which means EU price is 1.7739 USD / L or 6.7 USD / L.
That’s the basic difference between you and us, we europeans have learned to value the natural resources of our -only- earth and basically, we’re paying the price for the rest of you slacking lot.
January 20th, 2008 at 1:40 am
free first time credit report no sign up fee…
frivolous devoured,deadline creates …
October 5th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
atlantis bigfish fish free bingo…
exempting sordidness outcry?inclusive endures …