Oil prices are hovering near $100 a barrel as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed and under blockade. The tankers, which were already at sea, bought the world a few weeks of respite, but that grace period has ended.<\/p>\n
Gas in Calgary could easily hit $2 a litre or more by July.<\/p>\n
And it is not just gas prices that are rising. Prices of groceries, anything made with plastic or shipped by truck, will follow. And don\u2019t get me started on the rising cost of travel, either by car or airplane.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t theory; we are seeing this reality showing up at the pump and in our wallets. A visit to the website GasBuddy.com provides a tough visual reminder of the sickening roller-coaster ride gas prices have been on.<\/p>\n
We love our cars in Calgary. But right now, that love affair is expensive. A typical commute, which once might have cost $50 a week in gas, may soon cost $80 or more. Over a year, that is real money out of your family\u2019s pocket.<\/p>\n
Spring is perfect timing. The river pathways are clear, the CTrain is running, it\u2019s bright and sunny out, and winter weather and excuses are gone. One person switching their daily drive to transit or bike could save hundreds of dollars this summer alone.<\/p>\n
Try it for a month, and you may find yourself wondering why you ever sat in rush-hour traffic.<\/p>\n
Sure, you may not be able to travel as fast as in a car, but if you are lucky enough to be able to ride to work on a pathway, with few or no lights or stops, I suspect you may find your commute by bike is as fast or faster.<\/p>\n
That was my experience many years ago when I first started commuting downtown from Killarney\/Glengarry.<\/p>\n
Calgary Transit monthly passes are still far cheaper than filling your gas tank twice a week. The C-Train gets you downtown fast without the stress. For shorter trips, our pathway system is world-class \u2014 safe, scenic and often easily accessible, as they are close to many neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t about fighting climate change, improving your health or reducing pollution. It\u2019s about keeping money in your wallet while prices climb. The people who adapt quickest will feel the pinch least.<\/p>\n
Grab a bike, try one transit commute a week and plan your trips. Small moves now will help keep your budget steady when the next price spike hits.<\/p>\n
And while you\u2019re creating new habits, let your city councillor and MLA know you want these transportation options to be truly convenient, safe and comfortable. Real alternatives to the car don\u2019t just happen \u2014 we have to ask for them and let our leaders know we want and need to be able to choose how we get around Calgary.<\/p>\n
Calgarians are practical, common-sense folks. When something gets too expensive, we change and adapt.<\/p>\n
That moment is here, and there are resources to assist, from Calgary Transit and the Calgary Transit App to local organizations such as Bike Calgary, whose website has great cycling resources and community tips.<\/p>\n
I look forward to sharing the pathways and transit with you this summer. It\u2019s time to break our expensive car habit.<\/p>\n
Karen Almadi is a volunteer with Bike Calgary and a longtime daily cycle commuter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oil prices are hovering near $100 a barrel as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed and under…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[51,2201,1291,27610],"class_list":["post-64910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-calgary","tag-calgary","tag-calgary-transit","tag-gas-prices","tag-gavin-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}