The Brunch Table

Huntington, WV to Columbus, OH (pop. 730,657): 133 mi / 214 km

• 2h51 drive, round trip $27 ($3.00/gallon @ 30mpg)
• 3h40 bus, round trip $66-77
• no train service
• 4h14 plane, round trip $337 (1 mo. advance purchase)

Huntington, WV to Louisville, KY (pop. 699,827): 198 mi / 319 km

• 3h10 drive, round trip $40 ($3.00/gallon @ 30mpg)
• 12h45 bus, round trip $107-115 ($82 with 1wk. advance purchase)
• no train service
• 4h08 plane, round trip $232 (1 mo. advance purchase)

Huntington, WV to Pittsburgh, PA (pop. 331,310): 279 mi / 449km

• 4h21 drive, round trip $56 ($3.00/gallon @ 30mpg)
• 11h35 bus, round trip $124 ($82 with 1wk. advance purchase)
• 22h10 train, round trip $244-250 (only alternate-day service)
• 1h00 plane, round trip $220 (1 mo. advance purchase)

Huntington, WV to Cincinnatti, OH (pop. 316,718): 281 mi / 452 km

• 4h44 drive, round trip $56 ($3.00/gallon @ 30mpg)
• 8h50 bus, round trip $107-115 ($82 with 1wk. advance purchase)
• 3h51 train, round trip $46-52 (only alternate-day service)
• 0h53 plane, round trip $370 (1 mo. advance purchase)

The last time that I boarded an airplane was the very day of the alleged liquid explosives scare. (On that day we ended up just checking all our bags for simplicity’s sake.) As I’ve been packing and shopping for my first air trip since then, I’m surprised that more toiletry makers haven’t added sub-3oz TSA SKUs to their product lines by now. Even the empty plastic bottles that Walgreens had were all 4oz. Is it a conspiracy to keep people buying new supplies at their destination, or just a demonstration of how long it takes to retool the production lines? At least the plastic bag makers know what’s up:


That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout.

There’s been lots of press about the inaugural trip of the new Beijing-Lhasa railway. For all the political controversy (this makes it harder to “free Tibet”), it’s a heck of a technical achievement (pressurized railcars at 16,000 feet and permafrost stabilization), and it sounds like a fascinating journey. I’d like to check it out someday.

As gasoline prices keep rising, have we left behind the more frivolous problems and are we now at the point where people’s incentives have changed noticeably? USA Today reports that pump-and-run fuel thefts are rising:

“Our drive-offs are up probably 100%” this year, says Jeff Miller of Norfolk, Va., president of a company that operates 88 gas stations and convenience stores selling gas. “We’re on track to lose about a quarter of a million dollars” in 2005.

Gas retailers lost $234 million to theft in 2004, more than double the amount in 2003, the National Association of Convenience Stores reports. The annual loss averaged $2,141 per store.

As usual, it’s worthwhile going to the source. The NACS PR Kit which appears to be the source of USA Today’s figures prudently includes the following footnote on the trend:

For 2003, gas theft was reported to be $112 million. While theft certainly increased in 2004, the difference in theft over the two years is also attributable to a more accurate measurement of the problem.

Incidentally, I wonder why USA Today reports the NACS’s $2,141 per store figure, but gives a $234 million total as compared to the NACS’s $237 million estimate? In any case, theft does appear to be going up to some extent, and the increase in gas value is at least a logical culprit. (It’d be nicer to have some longer-term historical data to draw conclusions against, though.)

Meanwhile, evidence about whether fuel prices are affecting car-buying decisions is less conclusive. CNN Money quotes several sources which claim that while there appears to be a drop in recent large SUV sales figures, it may have more to do with buyers shifting to other types of vehicles within the “sport” segment. If there is a trend, we’re probably still to close to the cusp of it to see it clearly.

I highly recommend Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert’s Peak to anyone who’s interested in the near future of energy consumption (which really should be everyone in the developed world). Deffeyes is a petroleum geologist who has come to believe that we will likely hit the peak of global petroleum production sometime this year, if we haven’t already. (He’s using the methodology that his Shell co-worker M. King Hubbert used in the late 1950s to successfully predict the U.S. production peak in the early 70s.)

As the title suggests, the book is mostly concerned with what our other energy options are as crude oil becomes more scarce. As a geologist, he wisely sticks to his area of expertise, covering natural gas, coal, tar sands, oil shale, uranium, and hydrogen–he doesn’t spend much time discussing solar, wind, or tidal energy. Clearly an experienced lecturer, Deffeyes spices up the dry science with digressions, like an anecdote about how he got access to good uranium mining records by plying the night computer staff with pastries and soda.

After enumerating the problems with most of the alternatives (for instance, tar sands have high capital costs and require expensive hydrogen to convert into more usable lighter crude), Deffeyes concludes that our most promising prospects for the near future lie with coal and uranium. Though they both have significant environmental costs, they’re both proven fuels that we have in plentiful supply.

In 2006, Japan plans to start taxing carbon:

Under the measure, 2,400 yen [US$23] will be levied per tonne of carbon contained in fossil fuel. For the motorist, that will mean paying an extra 1.5 yen per litre of petrol, or an additional 3,000 yen per household per year.

I like that they’re doing it by carbon weight, rather than specifically as a gasoline tax. If I understand right, it pushes the burden onto heavy industry–which will make infrastructure investments to save itself the cash–instead of onto ordinary citizens, who can’t do that.

I remember hearing once that, if you sign up for the frequent, er, train-user program on the Amtrak site, you get a fantastic list of possible honorifics to choose from. Today, I found out for myself. “That’s ‘Rabbi Prince,’ if you please.” Oh, wait, I think I prefer “Hon. Chief Petty Officer.” Or, let’s just take this as far as possible, “Pastor Prince Princess Professor.”

That one’s actually not too bad.

Although a little too gender-conflicted for a pop star maybe.

“I don’t know what we would do without it,” said Jason Wells, 28, whose girlfriend, Gina Valencia, commutes most every weekend from Pocatello, Idaho. “You need alternatives to driving and flying.”

A large chunk of Wyoming has lost Greyhound service.

This post, on a SoCal job board, sums up our infrastructure crisis ever so beautifully.

single dad down the street from campus needs RELIABLE person to get two charming children out of bed, fed and out the door to school. one needs to be dropped off, so car is necessary. only two hours in morning and two hours in afternoon. but if you can only do half, I can find someone to do other half. pay is negotiable and contingent on RELIABILITY! qualifications: like or, at least, tolerate eight and 13 year old kids. can make instant oatmeal and/or waffles. can put plates in a dishwasher. can drive a kid to nearby school. BE RELIABLE!!

“What we call problems of culture are usually problems of architecture” –Francisco Perez

Here’s a transcript of a recent talk given by Princeton geosciences professor Kenneth Deffeyes. Basically, using Hubbert’s methodology (which predicted the peak of domestic oil production in the 1970s), he has determined that the global oil production peak will happen this year.

Perhaps some deus ex machina technology or discovery will swoop in and prevent us from having to care about how much our lifestyles are dependent on cheap energy–but it’s worth thinking about how the world will change if that doesn’t happen.

Funny, Joe’s post on transportation in Melbourne reminded me of an Australian guy that I met last year on a flight from LA to Chicago. When I revealed in conversation that I didn’t have a car, his eyes bugged, and he was stone silent for a second or two. I’m used to that in LA; I assumed he was feeling a little sympathy for my transportation problems. (Hell, even the State Farm clerk here clucked her tongue when I explained why I would be buying renter’s insurance from them, but no car insurance. “It must be hard for you to get a date,” she blurted out. “Oh, I’m sorry.”)

But, instead, the Australian asked, “How old are ya?” “Twenty-four,” I say matter-of-factly. He shakes his head. “Twenty-four, and ya never had a car.” It was clear he was speaking of a developmental milestone that I had yet to reach. There was real pity in his voice, and a bit of suppressed condescension. You could say “woman” in place of “car,” and the tone would fit perfectly.

“Oh, I used to have a car,” I answer too quickly. “I sold it when I went back to school.”

He brightens, shooting me a why-didn’t-you-say-so look. “Oh, yeah,” he says, and laughs, the condescension melting away. We talk about the price of American education; he’s speaking to an equal again.

Nice guy, really.

The Age just published a nice history of automobile adoption in Melbourne, Australia. Their development patterns sound a lot like ours. It’s interesting to compare that article to Tim Bray’s recent post about Melbourne. By his account, Melbourne is still very pedestrian-friendly, compared to most North American cities—perhaps they didn’t gut so many of their streetcar lines in the height of the automobile age?

This quote from the first article is interesting:

Soon cars were central to male mating rituals, from the marriage proposal to the Saturday night prowl. Before the ’50s, Davison writes, boys would say of a girl from a remote suburb that she was GI: geographically impossible.

Though I can’t find it now, the Washington Post recently published an article about how many people in the D.C. metro area didn’t want to brave the traffic to date people from distant suburbs. I guess we’ve come full circle.

I faced an interesting challenge this morning: how to travel twenty miles back home, in suburban LA, on foot, on a Sunday morning. Now, it’s generally accepted that “the buses” don’t run here on Sundays…but I had company on my way back, a guy who’d been here a while and who was also (although in his case, temporarily) carless. He knew which lines were still running, and where the printed schedules were wrong. One dollar bought a ride and a transfer, and two buses and a relatively brief hour and a half later (the ride is 20 minutes by car), I was back.

All told, a pleasant surprise. Except, after it was done, I thought back about what those two buses were doing. The first alone would’ve taken me there…but the second bus was required to cross the freeway. Without that, there might as well have been a fortified wall between me and home.

It seems that morning shock-jocks at three separate Clear Channel radio stations have been encouraging drivers to run bicyclists off the road and throw bottles at them. Here’s a Chicago Tribune story (free registration required), and here’s a timeline of the events in Raleigh from a biking community site.

I suppose that it’s the way of the world, but one thing that really irks me is news articles that don’t really tell the whole story. Case in point: High-speed trains: Going nowhere fast?. Despite its dour title, the story is about an entrepreneur trying to push Bombardier’s JetTrain equipment for “high-speed” service between Las Vegas and L.A.

“The economics favor the jet train,” Johns said. “Laying conventional railroad track is fast and cheap. We’ve been laying track for 200 years. The jet train has a huge advantage — it’s in and operating, and it’s just an expansion of what’s been running since 1959. The propulsion system is a jet engine, and they’ve been around since the ’40s.”

While it’s true that basic railroad tracks are somewhat cheaper to build and maintain than track with overhead power wiring, the article doesn’t talk about the operating costs of the JetTrain. Several companies experimented with turbine locomotives in the 60’s and 70’s, but they eventually abandoned them because of their high operating costs. Turbine engines aren’t very energy-efficient (particularly when they’re not operating at full power), and they require frequent, careful maintenance. (ref: 1 2) Even worse, while Bombardier claims that the JetTrain can operate at 150 miles per hour, their bid for the moribund Florida “high-speed” rail project proposes JetTrain service at a paltry 125 miles per hour. By comparison, non-Acela “Regional” service on the North-East Corridor routinely runs at 115mph, and high-speed electric trains in Europe often cruise along at 175-185mph. Maglevs can easily run at 260mph (though like turbine-based trains, they have a very high energy cost).

So, while the JetTrain may cost less to start up, it’s not a very satisfying solution in the long run. For more information on the topic (and some dispiriting talk about the prospects for decent intercity rail service in the U.S.), check out this discussion thread.

I’m pretty sick of the whole SUV-bashing fad (talk to me when you’ve stopped driving, period), but this NYTimes article about how pickup trucks are the new SUVs is just plain funny, in a head-in-hands kind of way.

“It’s an S.U.V. with an open back,” Mr. Lawson, 33, said of his metallic gray Ford F-250 Crew Cab. The pickup weighs about three tons, empty, and has enough room in the cab for him, his wife, their two children in car seats and even the family’s chocolate lab.

Wait, didn’t the SUV start out as a pickup truck chassis with a top? The other day I was remembering how you could once mock SUV owners for never actually taking them off-road. Now that the Sport and Utility parts of the Vehicles have become all but vestigial, they need the truckbed to winch them back out of minivan territory.

VIA Rail, Canada’s national passenger railroad, is going to be providing wireless internet access to business class passengers on its Toronto-Montreal runs as a pilot project. If Amtrak did that on the eastern corridor, I’d actually have a reason to pay the business class premium on my frequent rail trips. Of course, given that Anu ended up in a business class car without electrical outlets on a recent trip, it might be a stretch for Amtrak.

It’s worth mentioning that Amtrak did have a promotion last year that offered bolted-down iPaqs that could surf the web over a CDPD connection. However, there’s a big difference between doing some random web surfing while you’re having a snack in the cafe car, and being able to do net-related work on your own laptop at your seat. (That link also has a nifty story about kindhearted Mac users bridging Ricochet to WiFi on commuter trains in California.)

I’ve stumbled across an impressive number of open wireless nodes along the tracks, though the train is generally traveling too fast for them to be useful. For now, I’m stuck with a bit of browsing on the HipTop here and there. I wonder if I could get a usable laptop connection with one of those new bluetooth phones at 115 miles per hour…

Simon Baddeley, one of the regulars on the Carfree Cities mailing list, has written a nice article about the turning point at which the carfree lifestyle movement has arrived. Essentially, there is now ample documentation of the costs and hazards of the car-centric society–it’s time to move on and start creating and demonstrating new ways of life that aren’t burdened with automobiles.

Incidentally, there was recently an entertaining Slashdot free-for-all on the topic. (For those of you new to Slashdot, you can use the “Threshold” menu to pick how much time you want to waste.)

And check the date at the bottom–this is a currently running ad. (source: plastic.)

Not exactly shocking news, but it’s nice to see the Times point out that all the hydrogen for those magical hydrogen cars has to come from somewhere–probably pollution-heavy traditional plants.