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It's no surprise that Canadians and Americans alike have a societal dependency on the car to get ourselves around. While European countries may be able to avoid the use of the car (based heavily on their population and total land area), with the growing cost to export oil, many Canadian and American cities are being pressured to stop using the car.

This, ultimately, is a request that is next to impossible to meet. Both countries stretch over 4000km from coast to coast, and many states and provinces are sparsely populated over the land (think: Saskatchewan, Newfoundland, Nebraska, North Dakota, Wyoming, etc) make the alternative transportations (mainly: air and rail) simply an impossible task to try and network on a mass scale. Without the abandoning of thousands of small towns and fringe cities (such as the prairie cities), it simply can't be done; especially in Canada. Think of how impossible it would be to network smaller towns in Quebec or Newfoundland/Labrador; the only conceivable method to make a workable rail system would be to physically replace the road systems to and from - and that's simply a backwards way of thinking.

So, we move back to the convenience of cars, and the costs of running them. While maintenance is a cost that is relatively stable, the main fluctuation in operating costs are gas prices. Now, we all know that gas has been on a steady increase over the last decade; and while I put the majority of the blame on government inaction or half-baked ideas (see: ethanol biofuel), it doesn't change the fact that for at least the next 5 years, gas will likely be on a steady increase until the demand for alternative fuel outweighs the cost of filling up a tank.

The rise has been well-documented and is a hot-button issue for both governments; but alas, there's still no short-term change. Where I live, gas hit $1.25 a litre, or approximately 4 dollars a gallon. I remember gas being 50 cents a litre when I was younger; and I'm only 23, so it wasn't that long ago. So, it's gone up exponentially over the last few years. Just recently, I paid 60 dollars to fill up my small car's tank; last year, it cost me 45. The difference is staggering. And frankly, it's above my breaking point.

Fortunately, I live only 6.5 kilometres from my job, so I have taken to biking to and from work. However, there are other times I work 60-100km away, so I have to take a car. I can't avoid driving in those instances. But what I have done is driving only outside of the city, and attempting to fill up only once a month. I always said that I wouldn't pay more than 1.00 a litre unless I had to, and in large part I've stuck to it. While riding my bike may be a bit of a pain on bad days, I've already racked up over 2400 km on it over 11 months. And proudly, I've managed to ride further this year (1000km) then I've driven (550km).

This has all been driven (pun not intended) by the rising price of gas. I know there's alternatives around, and every time I ride to work I just think of how much money I'm saving, and how little environmental damage I'm causing. However, I still see the vast majority of people driving everywhere, while complaining about the rising prices.

So, I propose these questions to you: where you live, how much does gas have to cost before you'll stop buying it (except for necessity... I'll say, trips that take more than 15-20km, or an hour long bike ride)? Do you have no limit to how much you'll pay? Are you already taking alternative transportation?

The next decade will certainly be an interesting one; I've heard lectures from both sides, some saying in 10 years nobody will be driving cars (except the rich). I tend to lean to the side that someone will find an alternative fuel or an alternative, personal transportation method; but in the meantime, there's no way around gas prices except avoiding the use of cars. For you, when does gas become too expensive?