pastmaster
Location: Alma, MI

Todays and future transportation...
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I was pondering the future of driving in the Nation, and think that an exchange of ideas on how we are coping with it may be of help to us in general; a discussion if nothing else.

From buying and riding bicycles to the same for a good Mule and wagon!


Note:
Redirects are in "Diesel Discussion", "Tech Help" and Links due to general interest and the expectation that most vehicles discussed will not be MB = the actual thread is in Open Discussion.
All data directly related to this topic is welcome.
Have a great day.

In the future all cars will have so many gadgets/gizmos that it will take ten years of training before you are even able to change the oil on them.

But if you own a shop and have connections with insurance companies, you will be rich!!

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Ralph

1985 300D Turbo, CA model
248,650 miles and counting...

Honda Fit

I looked at one of these while at the Honda dealer this weekend test driving the Honda Ridgeline and was pretty impressed.

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Jim

You were impressed? I bought a Fit Sport over the weekend...

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Steven Harrison

1993 300E2.8 - 196K
2001 E320 4MATIC - 86K

The future is (should be) diesel.

The only "crisis" is now Americans must pay same as rest of the world.

Kind of funny, actually.

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Kent Christensen
Albuquerque
'07 GL320CDI, '10 CL550. '01 Porsche Boxster
Two BMW motorcycles

I suspect we will be learning lots of lessons from Europe. They have had high quality small cars for decades, whereas in the US small still equates junk. One thing is for sure: The future is NOT mass transit. After 15 years of subway ridership, I finally have a job where I don't have to take the subway, and I am not going back.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

same exact thing as an Aveo/scion XA... well it appears.. same class .. if its diesel i might change my mind about it. does it got that vtak yo

We will learn not to commute so much, doesn't matter what in. Europe is way ahead of us, in spite of the fact that the US had the best mass transit systems in the world in 1950...

Watch for the mass migration back into the cities -- no way to get there from the 'burbs inside a decade.

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

Sadly, I think that this is true. We really screwed ourselves by building out with no mass transit. When I think of all of the lost opprotunities I saw in Chicago alone for light rail, it makes me sick.

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86 560SL
With homebrew first gear start!
85 380SL
Daily Driver Project

http://juliepalooza.8m.com/sl/mercedes.htm

There used to be miles of trolly tracks here in my county. People didn't have cars at the rate they do now and then the inerstate system turned an all day drive into an hour commute. They ripped up all the trolly tracks and replaced them with a smattering of buses. Now the tracks are begining to be laid down again, on a smaller scale.

It will be interesting to see how future housing prices are affected by their proximity to a train stop.

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-Marty

1986 300E 220,000 miles+ transmission impossible
(Now waiting under a bridge in order to become one)

Reading your M103 duty cycle:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/831799-post13.html
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/831807-post14.html

Do you know how expensive it is to live in the cities these days? And if demand increases the price will only go up...I don't think people will be moving back in droves anytime soon. The exodus has been going on for fifty years now and it will probably not be reversed quickly.

Telecommuting will increase dramatically where it's possible. I think more light rail will be built. It's expensive, but no more expensive than building roads in most cases. Property around the train stations will be more valuable than property further away; this is already the case in some places in the north east.

It's true that our mass transit system used to really be something. I know that in Rhode Island, you could go practically anywhere in the state by trolley in the '30's. It's a real shame all that infrastructure was ripped apart.

The ritual of the daily commute will continue for many years to come for many people. If oil prices really do rise astronomically, new technology will catch up in a hurry.

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Ralph

1985 300D Turbo, CA model
248,650 miles and counting...

Hmmm... Im not impressed.... 38mpg? The VW Golf TDI 4 door has the same utility and MUCH better fuel economy..... If I was going to sacrifice my comfort in a small car I would want a better return for what I was giving up.....

That's gotta be one of the ugliest vehicles I've ever seen. These auto makers, are not going to price these cars off the road. They're going to cosmetically make them so un-appealing, that no on will buy them because they're so friggin ugly. Who thinks THAT is a nice looking car..I think the designers need their heads examined. What happened to nice body lines, and appeal..? Where has that gone..? I mean..Never mind, it's useless. Nobody will listen anyways, and they're only going to get uglier as time goes on. We're doomed.

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[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

I bought a moped during the '79 gas crunch. Good thing I kept it!

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Since posting this thread I have come to several conclusions and changes to the way I perceive and think about things, because reality has changed.

The increase in the price of fuel and the sacrifices it creates for most of us. That means us poor folks, that are getting poorer because we feed another mouth, the OIL Companies. The vast price increases inherent to the cost of energy will tag along with us like a parasite, because it will reduce our buying power, with the inceased costs and values for everything.

The hybrids seem to be a working temporary solution, until the new tech small diesels, reach us here in the good ol'USA! The Solar Factor, needs to be introduced into the solution also. The Diesel-Hybrids, or the gas engined hybrids, like GM offers today, seems to be the best bet for hauling big and heavy things that we own like RV trailers, big boats, horses, race car and motorcycle trailers, farm and construction equipment, for the near term.

Transportation, urban and inter-urban, seems to be the question of busses or rail. The costs of infrastructure must be taken into account for these, as well as the costs of the new technologies. What are they?

The answer begins and ends with us personally and with our needs and wants. I haven't seen anything proposed by State and Local Govt's, other than traffic roundabouts, eliminating 4-way STOP signs, to conserve energy, by eliminating all vehicles, coming to a full-stop and the idling time needed to get through the intersection. This is going to be tried here in little ol'Alma. Sounds good, but I don't know the proper rules of the road, when it comes to one of these beasts, and neither do the other drivers. Lot's of body shops are gonna be busy around here! The Amish and the others who still use real horsepower, may have a jump on all of us, when it comes to transportation costs in the present and future. Those of us who live in the Snow-Belt, are really gonna get it in the head this Winter, when we can't use the warm weather methods of getting around. It will hurt us very much financially!

These are some ideas on how to cope with it at present. We need to think how we can reduce and replace it for the future, in an economic way for the people like us. Just a few thoughts...we need more!

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SONNY was right...Nobody Cares.
Calogero, from the movie, "A BRONX TALE."