-
Oil pump - Source: Reuters
Skyrocketing petrol prices have seen Wellingtonians flocking to public transport.
Passenger numbers on Wellington's rail service during February were up 6% on last year. A similar increase was seen two years ago when petrol hit record highs.
"Oh I think that Greater Wellington, who run the services, are pretty smiley, they want more people on public transport and it's the way they want to relieve congestion on the roads," KiwiRail spokeswoman Deborah Hume said.
The price of 91 octane is approaching a record $2.19 a litre and that is too high for some motorists.
"As soon as petrol goes up, so do the numbers," Hume said.
As well as public transport, people are looking for other ways to get around. Scooter Shop owner Mark Hodson says that "as soon as petrol hit two dollars, people started coming in the door".
"A 50cc two stroke scooter would use about two and a half litres per 100k, so they're not using a lot at all, they're quite usable and they're quite a lot of fun," he said.
For those wanting to avoid petrol all together, there is always the electric car.
Wellington council staff have been using one as a pool car to save on petrol, greenhouse gases and noise.
"It's fantastic, the difference between this and a conventional car is the quietness, the lack of vibration," Chris Cameron from Wellington CIty Council said.
It costs just $5.00 to charge.
Greens say 'get real'
The Green Party says the Automobile Association (AA) needs to stop dishing out "band-aid" advice to Kiwis and "get real" about oil prices.
"Advising people to 'pump up their tires, go easy on the breaks and close the windows' is simply a band-aid covering up our severe dependence on oil for transport," said Green Party Transport spokesperson Gareth Hughes.
The AA's Mark Stockdale said on TV ONE's Breakfast this morning the latest price rise was "just a spike" and would not last forever.
He said motorists could cut their fuel consumption by up to 40% by following the AA's tips.
But Green Party Transport spokesperson Gareth Hughes says the fuel prices will continue to fluctuate and there is a serious risk of sustained high prices and shocks.
"The AA has for decades lobbied against increased government investment in smarter transport like trains, buses and infrastructure for cycling, which would have increased New Zealand's resilience," said Hughes.
"They need to make up for lost time now, and lobby on behalf of their members for more and better transport options, and for the government to develop a plan to deal with price shocks.
He said providing efficient driving tips is a good service, but "useless without acknowledging that decades of prioritising and subsidising cars have left us dependant on expensive fuel."
Petrol prices have risen sharply in the last week, hitting $2.16 for 91 Octane yesterday.
But there are signs it may come down with Brent oil prices falling nearly 2% after Kuwait's oil minister said OPEC was considering a production boost as war-torn Libya's output remained disrupted.
'The future is local'
James Samuel from the Transition Towns Movement says as the world reaches the end of cheap oil, there needs to be more of a focus on local production.
"The issue of food is a large one. We've built an industrial global food system on the back of oil. Ten calories of oil for a calorie of food. That's not sustainable in the long-term, so the future is local."
He said the uprising in Egypt was partly caused by rising wheat prices, which he blames on higher transportation costs and less arable land from climate change.
"If we don't have a stable and secure food supply, then we get unrest."
He says the spikes in oil prices will continue.
"Every time we get another spike, it never falls back to the same place that it was before, and it makes total sense when you look at the fact we're on a finite planet with finite resources," Samuel told TV ONE's Breakfast.
"The International Energy Agency is saying peak oil was in 2006."
"Whatever was in existence when we were born, we tend to think it is normal. But if you go back 100 years or 150 years, then clearly we're living differently than we were then."
