atlaw4u
04-24-2008, 10:35 AM
Traffic down, mass transit use up — are Americans finally changing ways? (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24277058/)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/506/gas_price3.jpgChristopher Palmeri - Business Week - April 23, 2008
For 20 years now, workers in Palm Beach County, Fla., have been counting cars with sensors at strategic points along the county's 4,000 miles of roads. And as sure as the tide flows in the nearby Atlantic, nearly every year traffic volume has climbed at least 2 percent. But in 2007 there was a slight decline in the number of vehicles on the roads. And this year, traffic is down 7.5 percent through March. "We're seeing a very significant change," says county engineer George Webb. "We're having a good time speculating why."
It's not just Palm Beach. Traffic levels are trending downward nationwide. Preliminary figures from the Federal Highway Administration show it falling 1.4 percent last year. Now, with nationwide gasoline prices having recently passed the inflation-adjusted record of $3.40 a gallon set back in 1981, the U.S. Energy Information Administration is predicting gas consumption will actually fall 0.3 percent this year. That would be the first annual decline since 1991. Others believe the falloff in consumption is actually steeper than the government's numbers show. "Our canaries out there tell us they are seeing demand drop much more considerably than the fraction the EIA is talking about," says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service, a market research firm in Gaithersburg, Md.
Is oil-guzzling America changing its profligate ways? Some think so, though it's worth noting the U.S. still consumes one-third of the world's annual gasoline output. "It appears we've finally hit the ceiling that's causing the U.S. population to rethink how and where they use their vehicles," says Paul Weissgarber, who heads the energy practice at consulting firm A.T. Kearney.
Just look at the latest auto sales figures. Sales fell 8 percent overall during the first quarter of 2008, and those of gas-guzzling large SUVs and pickup trucks dropped off a cliff, down 27 percent and 14 percent, respectively. High gas prices are forcing even SUV lovers to shift gears. Fed up with spending $100 five times a month to fill up his Chevrolet Suburban, auto parts exec Ron Gesquere recently bid $10,000 on eBay for a used Mini Cooper S. "I could make the payments on the Mini with the savings in gas," says the suburban Detroit resident… http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24277058/
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/506/gas_price3.jpgChristopher Palmeri - Business Week - April 23, 2008
For 20 years now, workers in Palm Beach County, Fla., have been counting cars with sensors at strategic points along the county's 4,000 miles of roads. And as sure as the tide flows in the nearby Atlantic, nearly every year traffic volume has climbed at least 2 percent. But in 2007 there was a slight decline in the number of vehicles on the roads. And this year, traffic is down 7.5 percent through March. "We're seeing a very significant change," says county engineer George Webb. "We're having a good time speculating why."
It's not just Palm Beach. Traffic levels are trending downward nationwide. Preliminary figures from the Federal Highway Administration show it falling 1.4 percent last year. Now, with nationwide gasoline prices having recently passed the inflation-adjusted record of $3.40 a gallon set back in 1981, the U.S. Energy Information Administration is predicting gas consumption will actually fall 0.3 percent this year. That would be the first annual decline since 1991. Others believe the falloff in consumption is actually steeper than the government's numbers show. "Our canaries out there tell us they are seeing demand drop much more considerably than the fraction the EIA is talking about," says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service, a market research firm in Gaithersburg, Md.
Is oil-guzzling America changing its profligate ways? Some think so, though it's worth noting the U.S. still consumes one-third of the world's annual gasoline output. "It appears we've finally hit the ceiling that's causing the U.S. population to rethink how and where they use their vehicles," says Paul Weissgarber, who heads the energy practice at consulting firm A.T. Kearney.
Just look at the latest auto sales figures. Sales fell 8 percent overall during the first quarter of 2008, and those of gas-guzzling large SUVs and pickup trucks dropped off a cliff, down 27 percent and 14 percent, respectively. High gas prices are forcing even SUV lovers to shift gears. Fed up with spending $100 five times a month to fill up his Chevrolet Suburban, auto parts exec Ron Gesquere recently bid $10,000 on eBay for a used Mini Cooper S. "I could make the payments on the Mini with the savings in gas," says the suburban Detroit resident… http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24277058/