Out of gas in Car City

phxcat · Post by **phxcat** » Mon Aug 18, 2003 6:55 pm

I don't know if you guys have heard about this, with the blackouts hogging the news, but we are out of gas! I was driving Saturday looking at the QuikTrips, which were about the first to close up the pumps, thinking about what would happen to Phoenix if there were no gas. Yesterday and today only about one out of every four or five stations has gas and people are lined up like 9/11. People are waiting up to an hour for gas, and there have been reports of people threatening each other with weapons.

I can get by without a car for a while in Phoenix. I did it for five days when my car was stolen. (Phoenix is a lot safer than KC, but if you live here long enough, someone will steal your car!) I don;t think I could get by for that long in KC. As suburban as it is here, things are tightly packed. I can walk to most amenities, and we do have a pretty good bus system. People are panicking right now, though. There are developments out in Surprise and Anthem where people live in houses that are several miles from the nearest store. With the threat of terrorism (what if they started attacking gas lines like the one that broke here?) we need to do everything we can to reduce our dependency on the car and on gasoline. If there was no gas, this city would be reduced to chaos. If there was no gas in Kansas City, I can't even imagine what would happen.

QueSi2Opie · Post by **QueSi2Opie** » Mon Aug 18, 2003 9:19 pm

phxcat wrote:If there was no gas in Kansas City, I can't even imagine what would happen.

That would be GREAT! I'd like to see the faces of my fellow suburbanites

Post by **dangerboy** » Tue Aug 19, 2003 11:12 am

It wouldn't be a total disaster here in KC. The 30-40% of the metro population that work Downtown or on the Plaza would have the option of several commuter bus routes from the Northland, Southtown, Eastern Jack, or Joco. Urban dwellers working in the suburbs would have fewer options for reverse commuting, but it would still be possible if they work near major employment centers like College Blvd. or I-29.

The people that commute between suburbs are the ones that would be really screwed. There are a couple of rush hour routes between Eastern Jack and College Blvd, but that's it.

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Tue Aug 19, 2003 11:27 am

I could get by although the buses to my work at the airport are not that frequent....the question is wouldn't buses also run out of gas?

phxcat · Post by **phxcat** » Tue Aug 19, 2003 7:57 pm

Here, there is some gas coming in, from a smaller pipeline and being trucked in from Tucson, so I thik the buses are fine here. The problem is with people who panic and think they need to top off and filll all of there milk bottles with gas- that causes long lines at the sporadic gas station that is occasionally open. I still have half a tank, so I figure I'm ok.

KCgridlock · Post by **KCgridlock** » Tue Aug 19, 2003 9:39 pm

I pulled into a gas station in Pheonix and all pumps were closed. Thought is was kind of wierd, but the other stations were not extra busy or anything so just blew it off. Yea, that city would be in trouble without gas. Actually any city would, regardless of transit options.

phxcat · Post by **phxcat** » Tue Aug 19, 2003 10:43 pm

That's what was weird about it- I noticed Saturday that some places were closing, and had a vague notion that a pipline had broken, and decided to fill up. The lines didn't get started until Sunday afternoon, when people started to panic. I would imiagine everything would be OK if people would just wait until they had about a quarter tank left and then fill up.

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