Gas price stories du jour
CBC bemoans that summer road trips will be scarce when gas costs $2 a litre and TVA collects social media cites about how cars are only for the rich.
Well, see, the limit of 1.5°C global heating limit is about to be broken. It is not a tragedy that going for gratuitous jaunts in a fossil fuel vehicle is coming to an end.
Tim S. 09:17 on 2022-05-10 Permalink
Maybe not, but it would be really nice if we had a transit system that let people get into the countryside from time to time. Also, a countryside with some kind of public access rights, but I suppose that’s a thread for a different blog.
Kate 09:26 on 2022-05-10 Permalink
The right to roam is a very European thing. I don’t know how farmers feel here if they see you walking across their land.
I was thinking this morning about how both in Ireland and the Netherlands, I was easily able to get away from the urban area I was staying in, into countryside, either simply on foot or by taking a short train ride, not something I can do here. Is it partly because Montreal is an island, so there’s clearly a physical and possibly also a psychological boundary around the city? Is it because distances in North America are a whole different world from those in small, densely settled countries? Or, as you say, is our transit simply not tuned to that concept? The schedules have almost always been about 9‑to‑5 commuting.
(On the other hand, both when staying in London and in Dublin, on different trips, I got stranded outside the city because of intermittent train service strikes I hadn’t been aware of because I was a visitor…)
mare 10:08 on 2022-05-10 Permalink
I love the British Right of Way laws, I’ve hike some long distance trails there and it’s nice you don’t have to make giant detours over busy tarmac.
It’s not farmers that are the problem, it’s people who bought large swaths of forests around their lakefront chalet, to use the wood for heating. Related, it’s also almost impossible to access a lake to have a swim, even though we have the largest fresh water reserves in the world. Almost all lakes and rivers in Quebec are dotted with chalets and are private property.
Also, almost all public hiking trails are off-limits for dogs now, even when they are leashed, or demand high access fees.
DeWolf 10:21 on 2022-05-10 Permalink
It’s the transit. Quebec has virtually no regional train service and even coach services are paltry. Just for example: Sutton is a lovely, walkable town surrounded by mountain hiking trails and some very scenic cycling routes. It’s only 124km from Montreal so close enough for a day trip. But the only way to get there is to drive, because train service was suspended decades ago, and even the bus (which took two hours and was more expensive than driving, even with $2/litre gas) doesn’t run there anymore.
Daisy 11:06 on 2022-05-10 Permalink
Navette Natur is an option for day trips to national parks without a car.
Blork 12:23 on 2022-05-10 Permalink
Kate blames the extended distances, Mare blames the privatization of lakeside properties, and DeWolf blames transit, and they’re all correct. It’s a complex problem with no easy solutions.
Even with a car, it’s not easy to find a lake to stick your feet in. Ste-Adele has a tiny municipal beach, and Ste-Agathe has a fairly big one, but they can be really crowded on summer weekends. Same with Douglass Beach on Lac Brôme.
I’m sure there are others, but it’s not obvious like in places like the UK or continental western Europe where the routes between the cities to the countryside/seaside holiday spots have been well established for hundreds of years (and most importantly, they were established before the automobile).
Similar thing with hiking and biking trails. There are plenty of them around, but none anywhere near any kind of public transit, and because they’re so scattered it’s unlikely there ever will be any kind of public transit to those places.
qatzelok 12:31 on 2022-05-10 Permalink
Tim S: “a countryside with some kind of public access rights”
The car and cheap gas, in the 20th Century, led to the countryside becoming privatized suburban crap. Like you, I long for a return to a natural condition for most of the suburbs.
Maybe five-dollar-per-liter gas will free up some waterfront land for everyone to enjoy? With a bit of help from flooding and water boiling advisories.
Tim 13:15 on 2022-05-10 Permalink
“It is not a tragedy that going for gratuitous jaunts in a fossil fuel vehicle is coming to an end.”
But gratuitous jaunts in an EV are fine right?
Kate 13:51 on 2022-05-10 Permalink
Tim, an EV is powered by renewable energy, in Quebec anyway.
I saw a man plugging in his electric car on my corner the other day. It had Massachusetts plates, so I asked him how it was, driving up here in an EV, and he said he’d had to stop once to recharge, and now he was recharging again before setting off to drive home. Seemed pretty reasonable, if there are charging stations in truck stops and so on. You could do quite a jaunt before needing to plug it in.
Tim S. 14:09 on 2022-05-10 Permalink
I think they’re two different problems. Transport to places that are accessible is limited: Navette Natur is a great initiative, but 28$ to sit on half of a yellow school bus bench to get to St Bruno, which is basically a suburb? I’m glad it exists, but..
But even with a car, there aren’t that many destinations you can just stop and explore. In the Laurentians every now and then I come across a nice spot by a river or little lake, and even if it isn’t explicitly private, there’s nothing there. No hiking trail, restaurant, cafe, not even a picnic bench. Just keep driving.
Anyways, I have hopes that the Grand Parc de l’ouest will have accessible nature just off an REM station. Hopes, but maybe not expectations.
dhomas 14:21 on 2022-05-10 Permalink
I bought an EV right before it got crazy, last summer. It wasn’t about saving money on gas, but more about principle. I consider myself an environmentalist and always said my next car would be an EV, but I’m also not the type to throw out something usable just to replace it (like my old gas car) as this creates more waste. I bought my EV for city commuting as it has a relatively short autonomy. But with Level 3 chargers around, I can recharge to 80% in about 15 minutes and go pretty long distances with few stops. It just needs some extra planning.
I also got my second car stolen late last year. I’ve been looking for another EV since then and they’re nearly impossible to find, used or new, at least not for reasonable prices. The same used car I bought last summer is being sold for 60% more than I paid, with more than double the mileage.
So, if you want to go for a road trip this summer, you’ll likely either be paying a ton for gas, or not going unless you ordered an EV months ago.
EmilyG 17:36 on 2022-05-10 Permalink
I guess that I’m fortunate to be one bus ride away from a few nature parks, in Ile-Bizard and Pierrefonds and such.
jeather 15:50 on 2022-05-11 Permalink
@dhomas, do you have a charger at home? I’d like an EV when I need to replace my car but I don’t have a charger (I live near enough several) and I park outside, I’m not sure if this would lead to battery issues.
dhomas 20:25 on 2022-05-11 Permalink
@jeather I have a charger that plugs into a standard 110V outlet, just like any other electric device. It takes forever to charge up with it, so I’ll eventually install a Level 2 charger at home. Since my range is quite short (between 150km and 170km), it doesn’t take very long to charge at a nearby Level 3 charger. I get to 80% (around 120km) in ~15 minutes, which costs a couple of dollars (maybe 4$ on the Circuit Électrique network). Since I only ever bring my kids to school and back, I can go a couple of days between charges. From what the dealer told me, consistently charging via the trickle charger (the 110V plug) is not recommended and nor is charging above 80%. So, I try to keep it within that range and will only fully charge overnight when I expect to go a “long” distance (over 120km).