The Greatest Transportation Moments of a Year We Want to Forget

Rarely can a year-end review get as depressing as in 2008. In January we were anxiously awaiting the Tesla, Smart, and Volt. Now we really can’t afford a Tesla, we can’t even afford a Smart, and we’re still awaiting the Volt (though not as anxiously, since we
definitely won’t be able to afford it.) For those self-loathing readers who must revisit one of the worst years in recent memory, we present to you Autopia’s Top Transportation Moments of 2008:

1.)
High Gas Prices

We heard somewhere that addicts often seek treatment after hitting rock bottom. Never was it more obvious than in 2008, when gas prices finally started to reflect the true affect of personal, fossil-fuel-based transportation and Americans flocked to alternatives. Public transportation
ridership was up from New York City to Chittenden County, VT, pedal ability became an
acceptable scheme of transiteven for those external of Seattle, and the
Prius broke more recordsthan the Detroit Lions. When gas hit $4 a gallon, greenies and peak-oilers from Cambridge to Joshua Tree basked in battery-powered smugness as the company who killed the electric car talked of putting
Hummeron the chopping block.

2.)
Low Gas Prices

For all the good that high gas prices did in changing the mindset of some travelers, it’s truly a relief to see prices come down. Even though they’re carrying fewer passengers and goods,
airlinesand the trucking industry have a chance for survival. And while it’s easy to stereotype all commuters as driving alone in a Suburban from a sprinkler city McMansion to an office park, a lot of workers can’t afford to live closer to their job. Quitting gas cold turkey would send the American economy into withdrawal, but we hope the memory of $100 fillups keeps us on the wagon — not to

Read on to continue remembering a year that most of us would prefer to forget.

3.)
The Bailout

It’s easy to sit behind a flickering computer screen and consider what the world would be like without American cars. That’s why the bailout been derided by
environmentalists,
lasssez faire conservatives, and even knucklehead
import lovers.
Still, every Silverado or Charger that rolls off the line represents
an American job and an American way of life. perhaps it’s considering we
watched
Smokey and the Banditand
Roger & Meback to back, but we’re thankful that the bailout squeaked by in duration for it to invent our list.

4.)
Americans Still Love Cars

Sales aside, 2008 was a pretty good year for cars. Chevy promised us a
Camaro, Dodge brought us the
Challenger, and a feisty independent carmaker proved that a
lightweight electric sport coupecould thrill the octane out of our veins. whether even half the
conceptswe covered that year become reality, we’ll be pleased. whether the
SRT10 Challengermakes it into production, we’ll be ecstatic.

5.)
The Election of Barack Obama

After an election that lasted longer than a few of that writer’s preceding cars, it’s heartening to see that the president-elect has pinned some hopes for economic recovery on investment in
transportation infrastructure. It’s just the kind of unglamorous task that America needs. We hope finding a creative way of paying for it makes it to the 2009 best-of list.

Photo courtesy flickr user
JoeSchlabotnik

Original post by Keith Barry