People from elsewhere might cause change

[Koronin]

You can't get people to use public transportation when it doesn't exist. You do realize that by raising gas prices you destroy the economy to a point that people can't afford to go to work because the price of gas would cost more than they are making? Most places do NOT have public transportation. The only way to fund it is locally and by sales taxes and that's ONLY if the state doesn't decide they want the money for something else. In this state the gas tax does NOT fund public transportation, ONLY ticket sales fund public transportation. Heck $4.00 a gallon pretty much shuts down the economy. Also as gas prices go up, public bus routes get shortened and many stops get cut out.

[westtexas]

You can't get people to use public transportation when it doesn't exist. You do realize that by raising gas prices you destroy the economy to a point that people can't afford to go to work because the price of gas would cost more than they are making? Most places do NOT have public transportation. The only way to fund it is locally and by sales taxes and that's ONLY if the state doesn't decide they want the money for something else. In this state the gas tax does NOT fund public transportation, ONLY ticket sales fund public transportation. Heck $4.00 a gallon pretty much shuts down the economy. Also as gas prices go up, public bus routes get shortened and many stops get cut out.

+1 to this. Also realize that the major oil/gas companies we see out here control so very little of the world's oil supply (Exxon is the largest in the states and it only controls 3%) that we couldn't simply "raise gas prices". It all depends on OPEC and speculation in the market.

My family is dependent on the oil and gas industry to survive. So is the city I live in, and used to live in. I know everyone sees the oil companies as the big problem here, but they are a major industry that employs a lot of people and making it cost-prohibitive to buy their product just to get more public transit put in is not the way to go about it, IMHO.

In my industry, we always say the best way to get clients to approve the treatment you want is to show them the value of it. People only complain about prices when there is no perceived value. If they don't think there's anything in it for them by running bloodwork, vaccinating, etc. they think we're just trying to steal their money. On the other hand, if you explain to them, show them, how valuable the services we offer are - it's amazing what people will do. I think the next step for public transit is to get people to value it, to understand that it's worth the time and money to get more. Once value is perceived, it's a whole lot easier to find funding for projects.

[Koronin]

westtexas, I agree with you. The other factor is the cost to the build the infrastructure in the first place. Which is the problem Charlotte is facing right now. They want to build the 2nd line, but they don't have the money for it and they the state won't allow them to raise the money for it. So in some situations it's also not just an issue of the city wanting it or not, but in this case the state preventing the city from building it. That line would be great as it will go from downtown Charlotte to the major university (UNC Charlotte) on the east side of town.

As for oil it's self, I wish we could pull it off the futures/commodities market as the speculators, IMO, are the biggest issue.