xcel
10-28-2007, 01:31 PM
Automakers roll out hybrids to meet demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. (http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/102807/met_212796156.shtml)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2008_Toyota_Prius.jpg David Bauerlein - Times-Union - Oct. 27, 2007
First CA. and now FL.? Fuel efficient automobile sales led by the Toyota Prius w/ an almost 70% increase in sales YTD are turning the ship around albeit ever so slowly. -- Ed.
Florida motorists have gone on a gasoline diet.
It's not a crash diet, but state figures show motorists pumped less gasoline in the 2006-07 fiscal year than the previous year. They purchased 8.648 billion gallons of fuel in the 2006-07 budget year, a decline of about one-half of 1 percent compared to the prior year.
The slight decline shows how two years of high gas prices, peaking above $3, have made an impact at the pump.
And no relief is in sight.
The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in the Jacksonville area was $2.83 last week, compared to $2.16 a year ago, according to AAA Fuel Gauge. That means a 10-gallon fill-up costs $6.70 more at current prices.
In Southeast Georgia, the average price was $2.77 per gallon, up from $2.06 last year.
Gas prices typically drop after the busy summer driving season ends. But that hasn't happened this year because oil prices escalated, breaking past $90 a barrel to a record high last week, said Randy Bly, spokesman for AAA Auto Club South.
"Our window of time for the price to go down is narrowing because we're getting close to the Thanksgiving holiday, which is one of the biggest - if not the biggest - travel times," Bly said. "Unfortunately, we're not getting that break right now."
University of North Florida economics professor Paul Mason said the decline in gasoline consumption is not great, statistically speaking. However, he said it is a significant change from the upward trend of prior years. From 1997 through 2005, Florida averaged annual increases of about 3 percent in the amount of gasoline sold… http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/102807/met_212796156.shtml
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2008_Toyota_Prius.jpg David Bauerlein - Times-Union - Oct. 27, 2007
First CA. and now FL.? Fuel efficient automobile sales led by the Toyota Prius w/ an almost 70% increase in sales YTD are turning the ship around albeit ever so slowly. -- Ed.
Florida motorists have gone on a gasoline diet.
It's not a crash diet, but state figures show motorists pumped less gasoline in the 2006-07 fiscal year than the previous year. They purchased 8.648 billion gallons of fuel in the 2006-07 budget year, a decline of about one-half of 1 percent compared to the prior year.
The slight decline shows how two years of high gas prices, peaking above $3, have made an impact at the pump.
And no relief is in sight.
The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in the Jacksonville area was $2.83 last week, compared to $2.16 a year ago, according to AAA Fuel Gauge. That means a 10-gallon fill-up costs $6.70 more at current prices.
In Southeast Georgia, the average price was $2.77 per gallon, up from $2.06 last year.
Gas prices typically drop after the busy summer driving season ends. But that hasn't happened this year because oil prices escalated, breaking past $90 a barrel to a record high last week, said Randy Bly, spokesman for AAA Auto Club South.
"Our window of time for the price to go down is narrowing because we're getting close to the Thanksgiving holiday, which is one of the biggest - if not the biggest - travel times," Bly said. "Unfortunately, we're not getting that break right now."
University of North Florida economics professor Paul Mason said the decline in gasoline consumption is not great, statistically speaking. However, he said it is a significant change from the upward trend of prior years. From 1997 through 2005, Florida averaged annual increases of about 3 percent in the amount of gasoline sold… http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/102807/met_212796156.shtml