VC makes a very valid point. I hear that in Sydney alone, the economy loses $4million/day due to time wasted from people spending time in traffic queues (time that could be more productively spent). It's almost scary to think that when this is projected to all of Australia it becomes in excess of $1billion/year. Then I think about what the US figures might be
.
The biggest issue here, however, relates to fuel prices. I honestly can't understand why governments spend so much money on trying to subsidise these, when petroleum is a finite resource that will eventually be totally exhausted and for which there is, at present, no alternative. This behaviour, incidentally, also convinces me that our species is nowhere near smart enough to come up with any alternative. Conclusion:
Sooner or later there will have to be a post-oil economy
The way I see it we have to options here:
1. Allow fuel prices to gradually increase to world levels. This means reducing the incentive for people to use their cars, meaning that hopefully they will only be used when necessary and less often for shorter trips as time goes by. This might also allow more time to develop a practical and realistic alternative to petroleum powered vehicles.
2. Do nothing (as seems to be the favoured option at the moment) and get a massive shock in about 40 years time. As someone who still intends to be around then (and who will be reaching an age where I mightn't be able to ride quite as much - although it will be no choice of mine
), I favour option 2.