Gas'onomics 2008: Drive less, pay less, ride more

Two government reports out this week show how high gasoline prices have begun to ripple across the nation's transportation system. Think cause and effect. Or maybe supply and demand.

As Times business writer Ronald D. White reports today, the Federal Highway Administration found that Americans drove less for the seventh month in a row last May. And we're likely headed for the first annual drop in road travel in 28 years.

Lo and behold, White also says, gasoline prices have suddenly begun to decline, according to Energy Department figures. Not enough to keep all those Detroit automakers from melting down their SUV molds but enough to push gas station prices in some parts of the country back below $4 a gallon. The average for California fell 14.3 cents to $4.317 a gallon.

Meanwhile, in it's own story about the decline in driving, CNNMoney.com reports that transit riders -- just like in Southern California -- are setting ridership records:

Usage jumped in the first three months of the year by 88 million trips from a year ago, for a total of 2.6 billion, according to the most recent figures available from the APTA [American Public Transit Assn., a private trade group.]

Some of the most dramatic increases occurred in the light rail systems in Baltimore, Minneapolis and St. Louis, the commuter rails of Seattle and Harrisburg, Penn., the buses of San Antonio and Denver, and the subways and elevated rails of ... Boston.

The Boston Globe reported Monday that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority broke a ridership record of 375 million passengers in fiscal year 2008, which is 21 million more than the prior year.

There is one big downside, as both reports explain: as people drive less and buy less gasoline, the feds predict a significant decline in the gas tax revenue that pays for road and bridge maintenance.

-- Bill Nottingham

Photos: San Bernardino Associated Governments (top); Associated Press / Brian Bohannon (bottom)

Comments

[Dan W.]

"This is yet another reason that we need to reorient our transit priorities from expensive and expansive road building to intensive, centralized mass transit. It is not just about conserving fuel but also conserving increasingly expensive building materials like asphalt, concrete, and steel and making the most effective use of limited funding. Just as we are competing with India and China for petroleum supplies, so are we competing with them for building materials, all in the context of the declining value of the dollar. We need to shift our transportation and development strategy FAST. Time is not on our side."

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All great points, John.

The single-occupancy vehicle, motoring lifestyle just simply is not sustainable nor subsidizable for everyone.

[John von Kerczek]

"There is one big downside, as both reports explain: as people drive less and buy less gasoline, the feds predict a significant decline in the gas tax revenue that pays for road and bridge maintenance."

This is yet another reason that we need to reorient our transit priorities from expensive and expansive road building to intensive, centralized mass transit. It is not just about conserving fuel but also conserving increasingly expensive building materials like asphalt, concrete, and steel and making the most effective use of limited funding. Just as we are competing with India and China for petroleum supplies, so are we competing with them for building materials, all in the context of the declining value of the dollar. We need to shift our transportation and development strategy FAST. Time is not on our side.