Asheville News

Some advice for Asheville city leaders: Ration gas and promote mass transit

Jason Sandford September 24, 2008

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

As the gas crunch continues to wear on folks here in Asheville, people are desperate for solutions. And leadership. A voice of reason. I admit that I’ve been a bit caught up in the frenzy, but I have yet to wait in any line for gasoline, and I’ve stopped driving my car to get around. (Thank goodness for the scooter.)

So I’m taking a pause, a deep breath, and taking some of your advice (and some of my own), and trying to think about positive solutions that make sense.

First off, start the gas rationing. Stop the madness on the streets. Right now, there’s a long line of cars stacked up on Ashland Avenue, all motorists waiting to get fuel at the little Hot Spot. I talked to the tire store manager across the street, who said traffic has been a mess since 7 a.m. People were honking horns, cutting in line, etc. I’m surprised we haven’t had more violence and more wrecks at the pumps.

So ration the gas. Stop the swarming. Do it now. Come up with a system and implement it.

Next, promote public transportation. Loyal reader Bryan offers this obvious suggestion. Lower bus fares. Now. Increase bus routes. Make it easy and attractive for people to get around, and promote the hell out of it, Asheville city leaders. As Bryan said, that’s leadership.

What other solutions are there? What else can we do to stop this madness, calm people down, and find our way out of this mess. Asheville is smarter than this.

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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5 Comments

Soni September 25, 2008

Get the bus to come somewhere on the Candler side of the 40 overpass. And while you’re at it, throw some sidewalks down out here so I could walk to the stop without walking in lanes of traffic.

I’d love to give up driving, but there’s just no option. The bus comes all the way out to the DMV, but that’s 2-3 miles away and there’s no way I’m walking or biking down that shoulderless stretch of Smokey Park hwy, even if there was a way to get under the bridge that didn’t involve walking directly in traffic. I’ve got no deathwish.

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Tom September 24, 2008

odd-even rationing, likely an immediate impact, at least in terms of buying the stuff.
http://wncrealestate.blogspot.com/2008/09/ashevilles-gas-crunch-modest-proposal.html

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bobaloo September 24, 2008

Yes, everyone should be rationing their gas and I’m sure they are at this point.
But many of you Ashevilleins seem to forget that WNC is a big area and most people don’t have mass transit options. If people in the city aren’t already using all available options to conserve gas then I have no sympathy for them.
Thank God I have a motorcycle.

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Thunder Pig September 24, 2008

How can you ration gas without infrastructure that lets you know who bought how much gas where?

What is to stop someone from getting fuel at more than one place?

Limiting purchases will just spread the panic and send people ever wider in search of fuel.

The number one thing people can do is stay at home when you aren’t at work, don’t go out to eat, drink watch movies, etc for the next two or three weeks as refineries come back online and switch from the summer blend to the winter blend and the oil makes it’s way through the pipeline (it only moves at 3 to 5 mph).

Giving the government more power is insane. Use common sense, freedoms given to the government are never returned.

I’d rather deal with temporary shortages than have the trains run on time every day.

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Chall September 24, 2008

Good post. More water than gasoline in this one w/r/t the fire (no pun intended).

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