Reality Bites  

Today's Herald reports "Fuel forecast prompts public transport push" - rising petrol prices are starting to force people to face reality - the days of one person driving a car to and from work are numbered (although those with short commutes and hybrid vehicles will be able to hold out a lot longer than the rest). Those of us who travel to work on the train haven't really noticed of course, though I imagine a surge of new passengers onto the public transport system may increase crowding and make me somewhat less smug about this state of affairs.

Soaring petrol prices will drive up the cost of commuting by car to as high as $300 a week for some Sydney drivers, NSW Transport Minister John Watkins says. Mr Watkins has encouraged commuters to consider using public transport in the wake of a new Government study revealing that rising petrol prices meant Sydney drivers were paying between $40 and $320 a week to run their cars. The Ministry of Transport research compared the escalating running costs of driving a standard vehicle from a range of locations across Sydney to the CBD, against the cost of either train or bus travel for the same journey.

"The results are astounding - with petrol prices contributing to an average $170 a week commute, but as high as $300 a week for far western Sydney drivers," Mr Watkins said. "That's based on the average 2004/05 price of $1.04 a litre - but analysts are now tipping it could soon break through the $1.30 a litre mark."

There was no doubt that problems on the transport network might have deterred people from trains or buses in recent times, Mr Watkins said. "But the system is improving and I'm asking people to consider the costs and investigate public transport options," he said. The Government is investing more than $3.5 billion in new rolling stock and infrastructure improvements to improve train reliability.

At least Alan Kohler finds it funny, with a warning before his segment on the oil price on tonight's TV news for motorists to "please avert their eyes" before he displayed a graph of oil price movements over the past few years. The price of TAPIS in Singapore briefly touched US$70 a barrel today.