National average hit $4.02, according to AAA data, capping an extraordinary rise from $2.98 just a month ago
Average US fuel prices have crossed $4 a gallon for the first time in four years, piling pressure on drivers as Donald Trump’s war on Iran continues to boost oil markets.
The nationwide average climbed to almost $4.02 on Tuesday, according to AAA data, capping an extraordinary rise from $2.98 just a month ago. The fuel price last reached this high in August 2022.
On the west coast, many drivers filling up cars and trucks are grappling with prices far higher than the US average. In California, the average is $5.89 a gallon; in Washington state, the average is $5.35.
Part of the reason that there’s little public transport is that gas is subsidized
Not really. If gas subsidies stopped, public transit isn’t going to just pop up. It would require a complete overhaul of the entire geographic placement of buildings and zoning rules.
Trillions of dollars over many years would have to be spent to make the US like the EU. Not just on infrastructure but also on businesses. There’d have to be incentives to open a grocery store in walking distance when box stores still exist. Thousands of people would be required to open a small business or manage a store.
In reality, if gas subsidies stopped the cost of everything would just increase astronomically. The US was developing when cars were becoming more popular. It’s too far gone.
Yup. Doesn’t matter what you do to gas, the US seems to hate public transportation. We each need our own bus to drive around. It’s infuriating. I would love to take public transportation. But it simply doesn’t exist in most of this country. We have to have a vehicle to get around, and I’m sick of it.
I reslly like that framing device, “we each need our own bus to drive around”, going to adopt that line in my arguments against car brained people
This is misinformation. US cities were built with extensive streetcar networks, so much so that the first suburbs were called “streetcar suburbs.” They were ripped out because of the misguided notion that they needed to be profitable (a double standard that only applied to rails and not roads, BTW).
They also had vibrant, dense, walkable downtowns, which were demolished circa the 1970s to “make room” for parking lots for car commuters.
Do not try to pretend that that was inevitable or irreparable, because it’s not. European cities, like Amsterdam, were also demolished in the middle of the 20th century, and guess what, they were rebuilt for the car too! But unlike us, the folks in the Netherlands realized their mistake and demolished and rebuilt again to put back the the infrastructure you see there today.
We can fix car dependency.
Im not saying turning them off would suddenly create a walkable paradise. But they do continue to create inertia from pushing for change.