Are you driving less than you used to?
As Dubner blogged last week, Americans logged 11 billion fewer miles on the road in March of this year than they did in March 2007. That contributed to a cut of 9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted by the U.S. in the first quarter of 2008.
The rise of gasoline prices, coming at a time when most Americans are tightening their belts, has led to a spike in demand for public transit — leading the Philadelphia Inquirer to wonder whether or not the bell is tolling for America’s car culture.
At the very least, the lean economy might make anti-driving incentives, like those in Seattle, more inviting.
Was Levitt right about the benefits of high gas prices after all?
and 
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The costs of congestion fall on a third party. That third party being all the employers of car-based commuters that pay them according to a fixed salary (as opposed to hourly work, in which case the commuter bears the burden of his/her congestion cost).
We need to establish a floor price for gas so that we do not end up in a situation where, if gas prices were to fall, we would end up in the situation we did a few years ago. We need to keep the pressure on.
It is heartening to see GM close 4 truck plants, consider dumping the Hummer division, and say that they are going to (reintroduce) the electric car by 2010.
We need public policy that emphasizes public transportation. We need to make sure Amtrak is funded properly.
Given the issues with the airlines, short flights are going to be a thing of the past. They just can’t afford to take off when they are only flying 45 minutes.I live in TX, where we need a Dallas/Houston/Austin/San Antonio high speed rail. I believe that this area is going to support some 50 million people by 2050. We need to get out ahead of this now. There are other areas such as this. We need leadership that can not come from public companies that operate quarter to quarter, or local governments that have to focus locally. We need state and/or federal investment.
Cycling in the mainstream media:
http://bikeportland.org/2008/06/03/bikes-go-mainstream-with-today-show-coverage/
including anecdotal evidence that more people are cycling.
And bikes in short supply in NY:
http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/05/30/new-york-suffering-from-bike-shortage/
I’d be buying bike stock right now, but there aren’t many publicly traded bike companies.
Wonder what Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) will say.
Here’s what he thought of the last attempt to give cycling commuters a tax break. Sadly, the ‘bike’ tax break was dropped, and the ‘hummer’ tax break survived.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ip8nozp7vs8
“High” gasoline prices might not be such a problem if the average SUV and Hummer owner didn’t buy it with the gain on his house that he received when he remortgaged the property.
I still commute by public transportation, but just purchased a car this weekend, so I’m going to argue against my self interest now and say that gas is still much, much too cheap.
Once it gets to $10 a gallon in something resembling today’s dollars, then it may really start to have a positive impact on behavior. At $4 a gallon most car commuters I know are still driving to work, but disliking the cost.
Are you willing to accept an ever declining lifestyle? Choose:
FOREIGN WARS OR DOMESTIC OIL
A rapidly devaluing dollar, aggravated by the cost of the War in Iraq, contributes to recent rapid increases in the price of gas. And if the trillion plus dollars the US spent fighting that war had been invested in a Manhattan like project to produce oil from known reserves in the Gulf of Mexico, the Continental shelf and synthetic diesel/gas from America’s abundant coal fields, gas would be $2 a gallon or less.
And reducing trade deficits keeps jobs in America. Every billion of trade deficit costs 13,000 jobs. $400 billion for oil last year: do the math.
Plus declaring American energy independence is the neighborly thing to do. It would place downward pressure on world oil prices by making more OPEC oil available for the UK, France, Japan, Turkey, etc.
Harness your anger at the pump. Call Congress and demand domestic production in this decade. Raise your voice or the oil companies and politicians will assume you are ready to pay even more.
William:
The costs fall on other drivers, whose pains you and I probably don’t consider when deciding on our means of transportation. True, I bear a tiny amount of the cost of the congestion caused by me getting on the road, but when there are many drivers on the road, I only bear a tiny fraction of the total costs caused.
William – Good point. It seems that a more accurate description is that traffic congestion is an example of a “tragedy of the commons.” A large mass of individuals pursuing their perceived self-interest individually leads to a sub-optimal outcome when considered in the aggregate.