Originally Posted by
contango
In the UK our gas prices are somewhere around double yours, sometimes slightly higher. At present we're paying a bit over $2/litre so somewhere around $8/gallon. We still have people driving their kids a mile to school in a big SUV.
To really take off cycling has to be seen as a viable alternative - among the problems I see as preventing that perception from really taking hold are issues relating to covering long distances, cycling in bad weather, carrying any meaningful cargo, or combinations. However high gas prices go I still can't sensibly cover 30 miles over mountains with a big box of stuff on a bike.
I noticed the same thing when I visited England. I thought it was telling of what we might experience in the USA when gasoline prices get closer to $10.00/gallon. At least England has some options with rail and subways. Many USA cities and the USA as a nation does not have the rail option. Still, despite the high expense of driving and the availability or rail, many British people choose to drive their cars.
So, my guess is that in the USA, gasoline can get very close to $10.00 per gallon and people will continue to drive cars. First of all, people have arranged their lifestyle based on low-cost private vehicle transportation. Most Americans simply do not have a choice.
One thing I did notice in England - or more specifically in London, was that bicycling didn't really seem to be an option. The streets are so narrow and so crowded with automobile traffic, I couldn't imagine bicycling there. I had always imagined the Brits floating around on the quaint streets of London riding Raleigh bicycles and wearing bowler hats and smoking pipes. So much for that fantasy. Beep Beep.