I recently found an article on Business Insider that presented an interesting piece of information. According to the article, transportation (along with housing) costs have been steadily increasing "like clock work," but income has not. The article states that according to the Center for Housing Policy, in the 25 largest U.S. metros, housing and transportation has gone up 44% in the past decade, while income as only increased 25%. Te same report claims that for every dollar that is added to a persons income, they spend roughly $1.75 more on housing and transportation.
I also found this article on seattlepi.com about why in Seattle alone it is getting much more expensive travel. The article describes eleven ways in which traveling will get more expensive ranging from higher gas prices and higher tolls to higher registration fees. The increases are hitting every mode of transportation from personal vehicles to ferries and buses, even electric cars.
These two articles got me thinking. Why is the cost getting so much higher? It is not just because of the price of oil because these increases are across the board in many places. I think it has to to with a growing country and a failing infrastructure that needs to money to stay afloat. As I have stated several times, the US infrastructure could use several trillion dollars in improvements. And while these all are not coming at once, repairs need to be made, and the money needs to come from somewhere.
As for now I am okay with the cost of driving, especially in metropolitan areas, increasing because hopefully it will spur a growth in public and more sustainable transportation, but overall this is not a good sign for the future.
For further reading please see the two articles:
http://www.businessinsider.com/housing-transportation-costs-are-rising-2012-10
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/transportation/article/10-ways-your-transportation-costs-are-going-up-3478560.php
I also found this article on seattlepi.com about why in Seattle alone it is getting much more expensive travel. The article describes eleven ways in which traveling will get more expensive ranging from higher gas prices and higher tolls to higher registration fees. The increases are hitting every mode of transportation from personal vehicles to ferries and buses, even electric cars.
These two articles got me thinking. Why is the cost getting so much higher? It is not just because of the price of oil because these increases are across the board in many places. I think it has to to with a growing country and a failing infrastructure that needs to money to stay afloat. As I have stated several times, the US infrastructure could use several trillion dollars in improvements. And while these all are not coming at once, repairs need to be made, and the money needs to come from somewhere.
As for now I am okay with the cost of driving, especially in metropolitan areas, increasing because hopefully it will spur a growth in public and more sustainable transportation, but overall this is not a good sign for the future.
For further reading please see the two articles:
http://www.businessinsider.com/housing-transportation-costs-are-rising-2012-10
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/transportation/article/10-ways-your-transportation-costs-are-going-up-3478560.php
I agree with you Carson. The only reason this trend is happening is because of the failing infrastructure in our country. The more it deteriorates the more people will be charged to add to the fund that will fix it. Unfortunately this is not directly related to the income one receives so the idea of having to pay more, you earn more is not necessarily an option when it comes to transportation fixes and a persons salary.
ReplyDeleteI gotta agree here. Transportation costs is pissing me off. Especially airfares; Five years ago it used to cost around $1500 for a round trip flight from New York to South Korea. Now it hovers around $2000.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, not all transportation systems are getting more expensive. There are several low-cost intercity buses in the eastern US, such as Megabus and Bolt Bus. Bus fares start at $1 one way.