I know properly inflated tires won't save the world, but it will help us destroy it a bit more slowly: http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/e...

During Earthweek last April, eight students from Carnegie Mellon's Sustainable Earth Club—Diane Loviglio, Aurora Luchser Sharrard, David Kennedy, Staci Wax, Rachel Minkoff, Ryan England, Ryan Menefee and Caroline Chow—used digital tire gauges to measure the air pressure in the tires of 81 cars that were parked in the East Campus Garage, the Doherty Apartments Lot and the Morewood Lot. Based on the assumption that the optimum air pressure for fuel efficiency was the maximum air pressure stated on the tires' sidewall, the four tires of each car were under-inflated by a total average of 20%. Only one of the 81 had the proper air pressure. (The suggested air pressure stated in owner's manuals is based on passenger comfort, not necessarily fuel efficiency.)

If you do the math to calculate the extra fuel cars consume due to under-inflated tires, consider the Environmental Protection Agency standard that a 1% loss of fuel efficiency occurs for every 2 PSI of air under the maximum level. Add to that the 2003 Department of Energy report that states that vehicles average 22.3 miles per gallon and 12,242 miles per year, and you find that each of the 81 cars burned 144 extra gallons of gas due to under-inflated tires. At $3 per gallon, each car owner is spending $432 for gas each year that they really don't need.

I'd also add the bakersfield roads are actually really well designed for mass trans.  Most of our main throughfares have wide medians that could be converted for a mass trans system.

Obviously more roads are not the solution.  We need the half-cent sales tax for mass transit and bicycle paths.  Start shrinking parking lots and make the Super Walmarts put dedicated bus lanes and stops at the entrance to the store.

Last summer my kid bought a bus pass to go from a stop on Baker St. to CSUB. The trip was over 1 hr. 20 minutes. If I drove her it took about 15 to 20 minutes (depending on traffic). Public transit in Bakersfield is not cost effective, convenient or efficient; it will make you wonder why God is doing this to you.

To say cars are more convenient should be qualified. It is not a simple matter of spoiled people having a love affair with their car.

"Above all, they had vision."

Hard to have vision with so many particulates blinding the old eyes. Cough, cough, wheeze, wheeze!

Obviously, the Bako political response to improve public transit will be to charge higher developer fees in all those rubber-stamped new single family home projects. The fact that many of these developments all squat in various stages of still-born reality doesn't seem to bother our fearless leaders. It doesn't seem to bother the politicians that there is a huge surplus of housing inventory already, and that every new development further erodes property values in this home equity sink hole of a city. To continue to pursue sprawl with the hope that the costs will somehow balance out over time is ludicrous.

Take a good look around at the growing brown zones in every neighborhood. Look at the bright and shiny new Bill Thomas terminal situated right next to blight filled vacancy ridden Oildale. How do travelers arriving by air to this town avoid the cheery image of extreme poverty  and social indifference when they step out of the terminal and into the 08 reality?

If there is no money to fix a broken dam, how does public transportation even get on the agenda? Private individual property rights always outweigh the public interest and shared social responsibilty gets branded as communism.  

Just call it a faith-based mass transit system.  That will get the locals behind it.

Change the name of Golden Empire Transit to the Golden Overland Delivery and you could put signs up at every bus station:  In G.O.D. We Trust."

One problem with our bus system is the route layout is so Downtown-centered and Valley Plaza-centered.  Anyone who wants to go from NW Bakersfield to SW, or between many other points that don't have either downtown or Valley Plaza between them, have to ride miles out of their way through one of these centers, then ride back out to their destination.

A well-planned transit system would have a Ming Avenue bus, a Stockdale Highway bus, a Stine Road bus, a Rosedale Hwy bus, and so on.  If more of our bus routes followed natural driving itineraries, more people might ride the bus.  I would.

Now let's see, airqualityguy advocates the 1/2% increase in sales tax.  OK, I'll also throw in the fact that the City and County did not assess  adequate development impact fees (neither did the BCSD and KCUHSD) over the last 20 years to make growth pay for itself and leaving us with a huge deficit in many areas.  Having said that, I have a question.  Would that money have been managed well, if placed in the hands of our past local government officials and administrations (let the reader know, some good exceptions understood)?  Don't think so.  So why would a bunch of cash solve our current problems?  May I remind everyone about what happened to the Bakersfield Systems Study and Alternative 15 and the current less-than "cooperative" City and County administration of the "gift" from Bill Thomas (TRIP funds)?  Does this encourage us to "show the money" from added taxation to the current leadership (let the reader understand, exceptions noted)?

By the way, the same lack-of-funds problems we have locally, is also Statewide.  The economic impacts of growth and development were not managed nor accounted for at that level, either!

I wouldn't use a sales tax, I'd set up a development tax and pay for public transit using development fees.

This issue gets down to land use, and the the deplorable waste of land this area, and the entire state for that matter, have allowed to happen over the last century. We have one area where public transportation is actually more than a pipe dream from some bowl of hippie-hash to show for the last century's rush to develop every square foot of space. Coincidentally, that one area with added taxation to help fund public transit arteries also has the highest value of property on average than any other metropolitan area in the state.

In this county, Delano figured out that improvements and quality of life do not happen without cost and a little sacrifice. If only the rest of the Kern County could learn from Delano's example.

Bump --

Refer to Algae thread for at least partial visionary ethos...........

Also the discussion on local taxation modalities re hydrocarbons, their extraction and ultimate retailing to the consumer......

More buses are not the answer, a proper concept is. Use a hub concept. The land near the old PG&E power plant would be perfect for a parking lot that can hook into the existing Santa Fe rail system for a light rail transport into downtown. From a designated spot, say the old amtrak station where small bus trolleys using solar power can whisk people on a circular route around downtown. The  other parts of town can have a direct feeder bus using either light rail or a trolley rail system or dedicated shuttle lane. From these hubs around town they can travel directly to downtown or to other designated places of interest based on the season, day of the week, special event, or holiday. E-mail, or text alerts, along with KERN-GOV can announce when and where special rides will be offered. There should be no in-between stops, simply get from point A to Point B as fast as possible.

   Other smart savers (I don't like "green" either) would be for the city to require the roof of every building, including houses, to be painted with reflective paint. This paint is required in many Florida cities and counties as an energy saver reducing the heat in dwellings by reflecting a good portion of the sun's heat. Another one is requiring all new public buildings to use solar and wind power as well as any new or refurbished buildings that aren't private homes to do the same. Designated downtown streets should be open to only foot and trolley traffic to discourage going from block-to-block in one's car. Parking areas need  to be shaded and well maintained to encourage their use.  

   All it takes is vision!

My biking group recently met with Kern COG to discuss increases in bicycle infrastructure (bike paths and bike lanes) and were met with the some serious resistance from the political entities involved.  When there are millions of dollars on the table to fund new highways, it's a little ridiculous that more of this is not spent on bike paths, buses, and trains.

How useful will all these new highways be if gasoline continues to set almost daily record highs?  Any local political leader that thinks we are going to be zooming merrily along in our cars in 5-10 years has a serious lack of vision and/or disconnect from the frightening reality that is now staring us in the face: the age of cheap gasoline is behind us and life will be fundamentally different in the US in years to come.

I'm personally planning on commuting by bike a few times a week starting this week in order to save money (plus they are just fun to ride).   I'm a little intimidated by traffic (I work on Rosedale Highway) but want to give it a shot anyway.  So watch out for me when you're zooming down Rosedale in the coming weeks.

Bicycles are a pretty good alternative since they don't pollute and don't need gasoline.  Anyone intersted in getting involved should visit www.bikebakersfield.org