I waded through the OP-ED.  Note: the vast majority of any transit commentary is pro-rail biased.

He fails to deduct the sales tax we all pay, as well as the federal taxes taken from the "producers" so as to subsidize this service he promotes.

Further, since most of us "cowboys" still own cars, we must carry the overhead associated with the vehicle we abandon so as to pertake in the joyous experience of being herded like "sheeple" onto METREAUX's Dystopian tram.

Question:

Why would an H2 be "safer" than a Prius?  H2 greater mass?  Higher off the ground?  

I just can't see a pigeon with a cowboy hat and spurs....

Am I seeing things, but it seems fuel prices are going up...at warp drive.....

What needs to happen is Metro build a system where we don't need to drive.  i.e. More buses and bus routes.

The author of the carpooling op-ed regrets the Chronicle's choice of the words "enemy", "fight", and "put out of business". Single-occupant vehicles (SOVs) are part of the overall transportation mix. They are vastly over-utilized, but they are not evil, and motorists are not the enemy.

Royko, I do not mention light rail at any point in the op-ed. What are you smoking?

Royko, I drive a car. Yes, I bear the fixed costs of owning it. Registration & insurance. But the other transportation strategies I employ knock the variable costs into the cellar. I buy 20 gal of gas a month. Maintenance? What's that? It's a Toyota. Change the oil every 9 months, splurge on Mobil One synthetic. Tires every four years. 30k service every three years. And the best part...

NO CAR PAYMENT. And I project that this 1998 Corolla will last another 5 - 7 years, at least. Lots of time to save up for my plug-in hybrid, which I will buy with cash, again no car payment, and my variable costs will be even lower because I won't ever buy gas, and the power will come from Gexa 100% Renewable.

Carpooling, biking, METRO makes life a whole lot better even if you own and operate a car. Do the math.

I haven't gone anywhere so let me continue to criticize anything that Royko may say.

Royko said:  "...being herded like "sheeple" onto METREAUX's Dystopian tram"

Again?  Are you THAT childish, man?!  We're PEOPLE and would like to be treated as such---thank you!  Do you realize that some people (anybody) may be offended by that statement?  Obviously not.

Peter Wang said:  "Royko, I do not mention light rail at any point in the op-ed. What are you smoking?"

Ummm---Peter?  Do you REALLY want to know that answer?  I say---no.

** The author of the carpooling op-ed regrets the Chronicle's choice of the words "enemy", "fight", and "put out of business". **

Why? Because it's best to imply such things without stating them explicitly?

Royko said:  

"Further, since most of us 'cowboys' still own cars, we must carry the overhead associated with the vehicle we abandon...."

Like Peter said, that "overhead" is reduced dramatically when one uses Metro, van pooling, or car pooling.  You even get a break on your car insurance with some companies.  I drive about 3 miles to a P&R lot each day, take a bus, and then the rail to work.  I run errands on weekends, and that's it for driving.  I've had my current car for 3 years and have about 9,000 miles on it.  That's not much wear and tear, and my last car (11 years old) is still being driven by my son. This cowgirl has no plans to abandon owning a car, but using Metro to get to work and leaving the car at a lot near home is a win-win the way I see it.  Not to mention how much I saw on gas.

I meant "save" on gas.  Sometimes I get click happy with the mouse.

Elizabeth:

I don't think you need to worry about wearing Nomex when it comes to spelling on this blog.

PW:

I think the HC owes you one.  The Letters to the Editor, or whatever the HC calls it, is for comments from the public, without an edit on its own.  If they wanted to do that, it should be in a box on its own and/or in the area where the Editors makes his/her comments, refering to your, or whoever's comments.

My bus to downtown doesn't even use the high vacancy lane.

Half the time on the bus is going through the neighborhood.  If I drove, most of that time would be eliminated, thus conserving time.  My daily commute on the bus totals two hours.  

Blog Spelling.  I have loaded up the Google toolbar in IE which includes a spell checker.  All you do is highlight the text you have typed and click on the spell check button and it flags misspelled words and offers a list of corrections.  It is very handy but it would not have found Elizabeth's "saw on gas" since saw is a word.

Kevin, I don't mean to imply steathily that single-occupant vehicles should be gotten rid of. I myself drive my SOV about 75 miles per week. But I will explicitly and publicly state that SOVs are very much over-used in our society, and this overuse creates lots of problems.

Basically, the current generation of Americans have given their hearts and minds over to the marketing people at the car companies. They really do want to be "Ford Tough" or whatever. They will acquire massive debt and waste all kinds of money and resources to implement the lifestyle that has been hypnotized into their brains.

What kind of lifestyle is it do be perpetually in debt, no cash flow, and no forseeable way to even continue in the current mode into the coming decades?

That's the nightmare we are living. We have to change.

The Chronicle is publishing a correction or mea culpa on Thursday.

The number of SOVs on the road wouldn't be so problematic if they were true SOVs like motorcycles and scooters, which get excellent gas mileage. The trouble is, most people consider such vehicles too dangerous to ride on the same road with all the cars, trucks, and SUVs that are out there. Thus, the problem is self-perpetuating--people drive cars because they're afraid of being hit by cars.

This is a factor in the popularity of SUVs over regular cars, too. At least a couple of suburban moms have told me that they drive SUVs because there are so many other SUVs on the road, and they're afraid of what would happen if they got into a collision with an SUV while driving a normal-sized car--especially with their kids in the back seat.

That said, I wonder what the safety stats are for riders of trains and buses--which are even bigger than SUVs--versus cars. I can't imagine that the number of people killed on buses or trains each year even comes close to the number killed in cars, even if you take into account the number of people who use each modality and the time they spend using it.

_ said:  

"My bus to downtown doesn't even use the high vacancy lane. Half the time on the bus is going through the neighborhood.  If I drove, most of that time would be eliminated, thus conserving time."

For my commute (and my bus does use the HOV lane), I would only save approximately 15 minutes if I drive.  Obviously driving doesn't save me a lot of time and it sure causes me a ton of stress.  Plus I can read on the bus.

As for Steve's comment:  

"That said, I wonder what the safety stats are for riders of trains and buses--which are even bigger than SUVs--versus cars."

Having been on a bus that was broadsided by a garbage truck running a red light years ago, I can tell you that you're way safer on a bus.  That truck was going about 35 mph and it hit right by where I was sitting.  The bus was totaled, but nobody on the bus had more than a few bumps and bruises.  I feel much safer in a bus.

Peter Wang said: "and the power will come from Gexa 100% Renewable."

Well Peter, the electricity that comes to your house was generated by the closest power plant which was either coal fired, Natural Gas, or if you are lucky it was generated by a nuclear power plant.  You are paying Gexa Green Power an extra amount so you can feel good and tell your friends you are doing your part.  It is true that Gexa Green buys power from wind generators at a higher price than other sources and your extra payment allows them to build more wind generators.  Another factoid is that Texas passed California last year in the amount of wind generated electricity.  But the actual electrons that run your home are not green.

Now if you have some solar cells on your roof or a wind generator in your backyard, you can pound your chest and proclaim you are green.  The fact is that Houston is too big with not enough wind to generate renewable power.

P&R Rider said "You are paying Gexa Green Power an extra amount so you can feel good and tell your friends you are doing your part."

That's not at all true! Yes, everyone gets a mix of electrons from every power station feeding into the Texas grid. Gexa is contractually obligated to put into the grid what its customers use. So the wind gen electrons from Gexa Renewable are displacing demand for electrons from dirty sources. Also, the renewable wholesalers get to book the profits, not a coal plant operator. So that sends market signals to investors to invest in renewable power infrastructure, thereby creating more capacity capable of displacing more dirty electrons.

Capitalism at its finest! What part of that do you not understand?

Now, wind cannot suddenly increase to meet new loads if the wind isn't blowing. So fossil is generating the base load. But why not use as little fossil as possible to generate the minimum base load needed for reliability, and then layer on wind, solar, hydro, tidal?

And Gexa Renewable is INEXPENSIVE. Green Mountain is a rip-off.

I understand the thought process behind renewable power and I agree that the base load plants are Nuclear and fossil with the Nuclear being cheaper to run and that wind adds power to the grid.  My point was that the electrons we use in Houston come from the closest plant, none of which are renewable.

The problem with the wind farms is that they are located in West Texas with few people around to use all the power the wind produces.  The load centers are in Dallas and Houston which consume huge amounts of power.  As more wind generators are added in West Texas, new transmission lines must be built to carry the wind power from the turbines to the load centers in Dallas and Houston.  Land owners do not want these lines built on their property.

"Land owners do not want these lines built on their property."

NIMBY-ism at its finest.

I know it is for the common good of all Texas power consumers, but from the land owners point of view, they are sitting out between the wind farms and the load centers of Dallas.  The lines pass through their property and they derive no benefit.  The power is merely transmitted from West Texas all the way to Dallas with none of it siphoned off for local use along the route.  Their farm land is somewhat constrained by the tower locations.  Then there is the hysteria over EMF.  You get more EMF exposure from standing near your toaster in the morning than standing at the edge of a transmission line corridor.

"The lines pass through their property and they derive no benefit."

What, land owners don't get paid? That's not benefit enough?

Yeah, that EMF thing is BS. That was settled a long time ago. No health effects at 60 Hz.

Yes the land owners get paid a fair price, but I was speaking of the benefit of using the wind generated power.  In that respect they can buy Gexa wind electricity just like you do, but the electrons that are delivered are the plain old fossil generated electrons just like yours.

Mr. Wang,

"Yeah, that EMF thing is BS. That was settled a long time ago. No health effects at 60 Hz."

The risk is reduced for the very HV power transmission lines as the rights-of-way are usually 500-feet-wide, creating an adequate distance (attenuation) from the wires rediating the EMF.

There is still concern for residential neighborhoods with the aerial power easements where the step-down transformers are situated.

There is a greater exposure level of EMF for children playing under them in a back yard for long periods, frequently.

Since each child and instance is different, it is difficult to access the long-term impact.