Voodoo economics
by Volker Weber
Oil goes up, gas prices rise.
Oil goes down, gas prices rise.
Dollar loses against Euro, gas prices rise.
Dollar wins against Euro, gas prices rise.
Comments
The only way is up, babe!
Be smart, get a Mobility BahnCard 100 and relax.
Holiday season begins, gas prices rise.
Holiday season ends, gas prices rise.
Unfortunatly travveling by train is only marginally cheaper than by car, IF you don't already own a car.
Of course it is cheaper if you count in buying a car, tax, insurance, repairs and gas.
But as soon as you own a car even with counting in all those above except the buying-price, traveling by train is not only more expensive. No you submit yourself to a fairly unreliable system, which is not very customer friendly.
I do like traveling by train once in a while though.
Johannes, a comparison between prices for traveling by train or car don't make sense unless you include all costs that arise for you as a consumer.
Besides that, I notice that cars are being seen in my peer group (Swiss, higher education) as a waste of money. Party of the reason is definitely that we have an excellent and reliable public transportation system - and a car sharing pool run by the federal railway so that even people without a car can easily get one if they really need it.
Gas reserves go down, gas prices rise.
People buy less gas at new price, gas prices fall.
It's not voodoo, it's supply and demand. :-)
Scott, that's the theorie. The voodoo is the reality.
Philipp, you're comparing apples and oranges, really!
@ Philipp: That's whay I said: Of course it is cheaper if you count in buying a car, tax, insurance, repairs and gas. ;)
Just a few thoughts on BahnCard 100:
- It's ok, if you travel alone. With two or more persons it's still cheaper with a car.
- It's ok, if there's a station next to where you want to go. If not, bus or taxi are additional costs.
- It's ok, if there are connections at the time you require them. If not, you're lost or have to pay a hotel.
- It's ok, if you want to get somewhere with civilization around. If not, you're lost. Your world will shrink to developed regions.
I've had a BahnCard 50 for a few years now - and it's not worth it (yet). Not enough flexibility in schedules, no connections to where I have/want to go to, not in time, no seats.
And last thing is: I'm pretty sure the price will have the same direction: up.
@Steffen: Yes, of course, it's most likely that the price tag for railway tickets will also go up. The trains don't run without power, so energy costs also affect the railway company's cost structure. Plus, if many people follow the argument brought forward by some here, then there will be more demand and this may also lead to higher prices (in theory, I know ;-)).
