As the price of a litre of gas rises above the cost of a bacon-and-cheddar-stuffed baked potato, more Winnipeggers are bound to start thinking about ways to ditch their cars.
The easiest solution is to drive the old Dodge down to the Red River, place the gear shift in neutral and wait for gravity to do its thing.
A less extreme solution, which does not involve petty crime, is to simply stop using your car as often as you would like. This might sound crazy in a city where small children are taught to use a brake pedal before they learn how to swallow solid food, but the benefits extend way beyond the realm of saving a few bucks.
In many parts of Europe, where gasoline has always been obnoxiously expensive, healthy adults would never dream of driving their cars a few blocks to run errands.
Generally speaking, Europeans choose to walk, and wind up reaping the health and environmental benefits. But many Europeans also live in more pedestrian-friendly cities with small shops and cafés that actually cater to people on foot, rather than motorists who flit from parking lot to parking lot.
North American cities tend to be oriented around the motor vehicle. And Winnipeg, in all its pathetically unplanned glory, is among the worst cities in the continent to get around without a car.
Yes, city council is investing in bike trails and Winnipeg Transit is nowhere near as horrible as whiners like to complain. But the fact remains our streetscapes were not designed with people on foot in mind, especially in the Edge City-style suburbs.
According to city research conducted in 2005, the average Winnipegger commutes 11.5 kilometres every day. And according to 2006 census data collected by Statistics Canada, that one-way trip takes an average of about 30 minutes.
Even though those two statistics were not intended to be taken together, the implication is kind of ugly: We appear to be moving around three kilometres an hour, which suggests a lot of us spend a ridiculous amount of time idling in rush hour.
Three kph is slower than the average human being saunters, let alone actually walks on the way to work. So those of us with shorter commutes may actually want to consider leaving the car at home.
For me, it's unusually easy. I live precisely 2.4 kilometres from my workplace, which means it only takes 25 minutes to walk out my door and wind up in a windowless dungeon in the basement of city hall.
I would be lying if I said I always walk. I just as often jump on a bus, especially when I'm falling behind. And I also take the car more often than I care to admit during the winter, when most of us with cars do not even conceive of walking or cycling.
This is changing, of course, as more all-season cyclists slap fenders on their bikes and brave the snow and slush. And the next time surveys are conducted, I'll wager the results show the number of warm-weather bike commuters has increased dramatically.
But the fact remains, Winnipeg is not dense enough right now to be attractive to commuter on foot. And the prospect of future densification remains a bit grim.
While the healthy housing market has seen some revitalization of older areas, the 'burbs remain the destination of choice for most young families.
But for far too long, it's been too easy to drive without thinking about the consequences, as the real cost of oil -- in environmental, health and political terms -- never factored into the cost of a litre of gasoline.
It still doesn't, but at least the price of gas is high enough to make ordinary people stop and think. Every single one of us will probably drive a little less this summer, and that's not such a horrible thing.
bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca
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