I grew up with parents old-school enough to keep a log book in the car. (Every time they filled the tank they would detail the odometer reading, the price paid, and the location). Best believe I am doing calculations of fuel cost all the time!
I thought that was a normal thing that everyone did, until I married my husband.
We still do it and will teach our kids too. I find it a good way to stay connected (especially with multiple drivers) to not only gas mileage, but maintenance too.
Related to your comment about dealing with the certainty that tragedy will strike semi randomly and that this should probably make us rethink some things:
Are you familiar with the control theory/systems design principle that "The Purpose of the System is What It Does"? It's used in cybernetics to remind people that it's unhelpful to interpret systems by what their designers intend (particularly what they claim they intend after the fact): what a system actually does is what it's designed to do, even when that outcome is undesirable. If we don't want what's happening, you can't just complain about the system not being used correctly, you have to *change the design*.
I think about this a lot with respect to transportation, and while I'm not sure the "there are no accidents" frame is quite how I'd express it, the POSIWID angle does imply a degree of complicity for us all (and extra for those with actual authority) that should be pretty sobering. We've designed/accepted a system that is built to kill an maim, and we need to understand that and, I'd argue, stop settling.
that 12 cents is just for gas - if you're filling gas, you've got maintenance costs too. This is relevant because when a car owner compares the cost of taking the train/bus, one may be tempted to assume the cost of their car is "sunk." But the reality is, you still pay at minimum 20 cents/mile every time you drive a gas car, and probably near half a dollar per mile. Suddenly, the bus becomes more cost competitive even for car owners.
(the rest of this post is data and links and nuances/caveats)
According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the average cost of operating and maintaining a vehicle per mile averages $0.72/mile in the US, and the costs of ownership are a separate $0.44/mile on average, altho that latter cost is sunk - the more you drive, the less it is, and if you get an old beater without taking a loan that cost is even less.
Car and Driver estimates the maintenance costs of an F-150 or a gas-Hyundai Kona to be just under 10 cents/mile, while their electric versions would be 1.5-2 cents cheaper on the mile to operate and maintain. The Bureau of Transport Statistics implicitly calculates maintenance alone to be about $0.16/mile. That's a significant level of disagreement with C&D, but nevertheless that is just the cost of maintaining the vehicle. The cost of operating and maintaining, it's fair to assume, is, at the lowest end about $0.20/mile for a gas powered vehicle, and probably a minimum of $0.12/mile for an EV.
EVs do seem cheaper to operate and more expensive to own, but I imagine the way most batteries work is the more you use it, the less charge they retain - so a new car may cost just $0.12/mile, but an older one will approach the cost of operating that a gas car does. Most of the cost is, it's fair to say, sunk when owning an EV. But it may still be worth your wallet to take the train, walk or bike if it's viable for you, if you plan on owning your EV for more than 3 years.
I am very aware of the costs of driving, but Houston has beaten me down. I am now adapting to more local norms: I am transitioning to being a driver. But I am not accepting the norm of careless driving.
I have some friends who recently moved back to Michigan from Houston. They did mention how nice it was to bike around quite a lot of Houston. I'm sure it doesn't work everywhere or for everyone, but something to keep hope in!
It's an interesting tradeoff that I've been thinking a lot about recently. I drive from the East Bay to Tahoe most weekends in the summer to ride my bike at Northstar bike park. I have an EV with a bike rack that I use to transport my bike up there. When I got the car, I wasn't driving much at all, and I still work from home so I rarely drive more than a few miles during the week.
The car isn't well suited for this work in a lot of ways. It only gets about 200 miles to a charge (which is almost precisely the distance between my home and Northstar), and add to that the additional drag of the bike and the uphill nature of the drive out, means I have to charge at least twice or sometimes three or even four times, which adds about an hour onto the already six hour drive for a day trip. Fortunately, I snagged one of the last used Teslas with free supercharging for life, so the drive currently costs me $0. But charging takes a good amount of time as mentioned. I'm a pretty highly paid attorney, so I do wonder if I'm getting my money's worth in this fashion.
This has led me to see if I can find a reasonably cheap hybrid pickup with adaptive cruise control (I'm totally addicted to autopilot for long trips, it vastly reduces the psychic burden of driving at a baseline level, and due to working from home and rarely driving for work, my tolerance for driving is even lower than before WFH became my daily life). The answer, unfortunately, is no. Adaptive cruise control is pretty common, but used hybrids are very hard to find.
In addition, of course, to the cost of the vehicle and insurance (rates are exploding at least here in California, so like $500-$800 per month for the loan and insurance), even these really modest very modern (2019-present) Toyota Tacomas only get 18/22 MPG, which is like $80-100 in gas per trip, so like $240-$300 per month. The park is open from mid-June until the end of September, so that's $840-$1,000 per year. For all that money, I'd rather just buy more bike stuff, which I was going to do anyway.
Truth is, people obsess about the price of gas but it’s a marginal cost of car ownership. When you do all the math, the purchase, insurance, maintenance costs are all much bigger.
I am incredibly annoyed that the construction happening next door to my apartment building has resulted in pedestrians on this side of the street being forced to cross twice, instead of simply closing one direction of automotive traffic at the boundary between a residential neighborhood and a collection of restaurants and shops.
I grew up with parents old-school enough to keep a log book in the car. (Every time they filled the tank they would detail the odometer reading, the price paid, and the location). Best believe I am doing calculations of fuel cost all the time!
I thought that was a normal thing that everyone did, until I married my husband.
We still do it and will teach our kids too. I find it a good way to stay connected (especially with multiple drivers) to not only gas mileage, but maintenance too.
Related to your comment about dealing with the certainty that tragedy will strike semi randomly and that this should probably make us rethink some things:
Are you familiar with the control theory/systems design principle that "The Purpose of the System is What It Does"? It's used in cybernetics to remind people that it's unhelpful to interpret systems by what their designers intend (particularly what they claim they intend after the fact): what a system actually does is what it's designed to do, even when that outcome is undesirable. If we don't want what's happening, you can't just complain about the system not being used correctly, you have to *change the design*.
I think about this a lot with respect to transportation, and while I'm not sure the "there are no accidents" frame is quite how I'd express it, the POSIWID angle does imply a degree of complicity for us all (and extra for those with actual authority) that should be pretty sobering. We've designed/accepted a system that is built to kill an maim, and we need to understand that and, I'd argue, stop settling.
that 12 cents is just for gas - if you're filling gas, you've got maintenance costs too. This is relevant because when a car owner compares the cost of taking the train/bus, one may be tempted to assume the cost of their car is "sunk." But the reality is, you still pay at minimum 20 cents/mile every time you drive a gas car, and probably near half a dollar per mile. Suddenly, the bus becomes more cost competitive even for car owners.
(the rest of this post is data and links and nuances/caveats)
According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the average cost of operating and maintaining a vehicle per mile averages $0.72/mile in the US, and the costs of ownership are a separate $0.44/mile on average, altho that latter cost is sunk - the more you drive, the less it is, and if you get an old beater without taking a loan that cost is even less.
Car and Driver estimates the maintenance costs of an F-150 or a gas-Hyundai Kona to be just under 10 cents/mile, while their electric versions would be 1.5-2 cents cheaper on the mile to operate and maintain. The Bureau of Transport Statistics implicitly calculates maintenance alone to be about $0.16/mile. That's a significant level of disagreement with C&D, but nevertheless that is just the cost of maintaining the vehicle. The cost of operating and maintaining, it's fair to assume, is, at the lowest end about $0.20/mile for a gas powered vehicle, and probably a minimum of $0.12/mile for an EV.
EVs do seem cheaper to operate and more expensive to own, but I imagine the way most batteries work is the more you use it, the less charge they retain - so a new car may cost just $0.12/mile, but an older one will approach the cost of operating that a gas car does. Most of the cost is, it's fair to say, sunk when owning an EV. But it may still be worth your wallet to take the train, walk or bike if it's viable for you, if you plan on owning your EV for more than 3 years.
https://data.bts.gov/stories/s/Transportation-Economic-Trends-Transportation-Spen/bzt6-t8cd/#:~:text=On%20average%2C%20it%20costs%20%240.72,2020%20%E2%80%93%20at%20%240.44%20per%20mile.
https://www.caranddriver.com/shopping-advice/a32494027/ev-vs-gas-cheaper-to-own/
I am very aware of the costs of driving, but Houston has beaten me down. I am now adapting to more local norms: I am transitioning to being a driver. But I am not accepting the norm of careless driving.
I have some friends who recently moved back to Michigan from Houston. They did mention how nice it was to bike around quite a lot of Houston. I'm sure it doesn't work everywhere or for everyone, but something to keep hope in!
Not for me. I am no longer able to ride a bicycle. But it's good for those who can.
sorry to hear that. wishing you drives that aren't too bad and that all your needs aren't too far away.
It's an interesting tradeoff that I've been thinking a lot about recently. I drive from the East Bay to Tahoe most weekends in the summer to ride my bike at Northstar bike park. I have an EV with a bike rack that I use to transport my bike up there. When I got the car, I wasn't driving much at all, and I still work from home so I rarely drive more than a few miles during the week.
The car isn't well suited for this work in a lot of ways. It only gets about 200 miles to a charge (which is almost precisely the distance between my home and Northstar), and add to that the additional drag of the bike and the uphill nature of the drive out, means I have to charge at least twice or sometimes three or even four times, which adds about an hour onto the already six hour drive for a day trip. Fortunately, I snagged one of the last used Teslas with free supercharging for life, so the drive currently costs me $0. But charging takes a good amount of time as mentioned. I'm a pretty highly paid attorney, so I do wonder if I'm getting my money's worth in this fashion.
This has led me to see if I can find a reasonably cheap hybrid pickup with adaptive cruise control (I'm totally addicted to autopilot for long trips, it vastly reduces the psychic burden of driving at a baseline level, and due to working from home and rarely driving for work, my tolerance for driving is even lower than before WFH became my daily life). The answer, unfortunately, is no. Adaptive cruise control is pretty common, but used hybrids are very hard to find.
In addition, of course, to the cost of the vehicle and insurance (rates are exploding at least here in California, so like $500-$800 per month for the loan and insurance), even these really modest very modern (2019-present) Toyota Tacomas only get 18/22 MPG, which is like $80-100 in gas per trip, so like $240-$300 per month. The park is open from mid-June until the end of September, so that's $840-$1,000 per year. For all that money, I'd rather just buy more bike stuff, which I was going to do anyway.
Truth is, people obsess about the price of gas but it’s a marginal cost of car ownership. When you do all the math, the purchase, insurance, maintenance costs are all much bigger.
I am incredibly annoyed that the construction happening next door to my apartment building has resulted in pedestrians on this side of the street being forced to cross twice, instead of simply closing one direction of automotive traffic at the boundary between a residential neighborhood and a collection of restaurants and shops.
I think about it every time there is a news item like this: https://www.ffxnow.com/2024/07/20/pedestrian-killed-by-crash-on-route-7-in-great-falls/