[Leica] Re: Small cars

[bruce at ralgo.nl (bruce)]

Don, I thought the same about "our" rail system ................  
until I took the Eurostar to London.

It departs from Brussels ................. but there is an "airport- 
like" check-in system, baggage x-ray/personal check system, passport  
control, waiting areas (with food and drink) and then the ascent to  
the platform .......... before a mostly longish walk to the reserved  
carriage and seat .............. walk-ways on the platform don't exist.

I hasten to add, that it is not only the island- 
mentality ................ but more a question of security for the  
Channel Tunnel (chunnel).

B.


On 27-apr-2006, at 3:51, Don Dory wrote:

> Larry,
> I think that there is some cost for transportation that gets people to
> change.  In the 70's it was the $1/gallon gas that got all the  
> barges traded
> in, diesel Rabbits bid up to funny prices, and the end of the  
> "muscle car".
> People say that there has not been a change in fuel economy, but I  
> remember
> the 6 mpg 427 cars with 411 gears.  I remember the mighty Lincolns and
> Caddys that were lucky to get 13mpg.  Even the gartantuan  
> Navigators are
> getting 14/15mpg today.
>
> But with gas hitting $3 in the U.S. people might change.  Possibly  
> try mass
> transit.  Buy the smaller engine version instead of maximum HP.  Maybe
> accept the minivan to haul the kids to all the stuff at 20 mpg  
> instead of
> the SUV at 15mpg.  Who knows, maybe 20,000 more hybrid vehicles  
> sold.  Each
> person making small changes in their behavior will make a huge dent
> collectively in gasoline consumption.
>
> We were all screaming porkfest at the ethanol requirements ten  
> years ago and
> now we all ask why weren't we with Brazil. I will tell you why, oil  
> was
> $12-14 a barrel just a few years ago and at that price burning oil  
> made a
> lot of economic sense.
>
> Now if we in the U.S. could just convince the rest of us to build a  
> system
> of nuclear, solar and wind plants to power a comprehensive rail  
> system like
> Europe has then things would be much better fuel wise.  I do envy  
> my friends
> in Europe the ability to hop on a train and get somewhere without  
> most of
> the security hassles air travel creates.
>
> Don
> don.dory@gmail.com
>
>
> On 4/26/06, Lawrence Zeitlin <lrzeitlin@optonline.net> wrote:
>>
>> << Question. Did high gas taxes work in European countries to reduce
>> their use of gasoline or did their
>> citizens continue their same consumption and cut back on other  
>> expenses
>> to
>> make up for it? >>
>>
>> Having lived in the UK for some time, I found that the amount of
>> driving was about the same as for any comparably congested area in  
>> the
>> US. But the cars were smaller and much more fuel efficient.
>> Recreational boats were less powerful too. I saw few 200 hp  
>> outboards,
>> mostly 35 and 50 hp models. The car I drove to work every day had  
>> only
>> a 980 cc engine with just about enough power to pull a greased  
>> gumdrop
>> out of a baby's mouth. Still it could hit 85 mph on the few roads  
>> that
>> could handle that speed. The political contingencies were jiggered to
>> both reduce fuel consumption and to raise revenue. My car, with it's
>> under 1 liter engine was taxed only about half as much as my  
>> neighbor's
>> not much bigger Volvo.
>>
>> Interestingly, one neighbor, a professor of economics and a car buff,
>> said that UK cars were getting bigger and more powerful after WW2  
>> just
>> like in the US. It was not until petrol reached our current  
>> equivalent
>> of $4 a US gallon that the trend reversed. That's when vehicle design
>> changes necessary to curtail consumption began to kick in. It seems
>> that we have a way to go yet.
>>
>> Larry Z
>>
>>
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