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Nearly 75% of People Say $4 Gas Would Alter Their Summer Travel Plans

dailyfueleconomytip.com — According to a recent poll, 74% of people stated that if gas prices were to hit $4 per gallon this summer that they would be forced to alter their vacation plans. This scenario would be catastrophic to the many vacation hot spots that rely on the revenue generated from June through August to sustain them for the remainder of the year.

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  • volinar, on 10/12/2007, -14/+51$4????...if it goes up much over $3 a gallon, it will alter any travel plans of mine. This is getting out of control.
    • dt40, on 10/12/2007, -11/+147I find it interesting that people are so prince sensitive about gas, yet lso much less price sensitive about other things.

      If someone's summer vacation is 200 miles away and their car gets 20MPG, then the difference between $4/gallon gas and $2.50/gallon gas is just (200/20) * (4-2.5) == $15.

      At the same time, people buy $3 coffees at Starbuck's all the time. And $2 bottles of water?!? And the depreciation and maintainence on one's car are a lot more than the $1.50 differential cost in gas.

      So they'd alter their vacation plans to save $15, yet don't mind paying absurd amounts for beverages and don't consider all the real costs of driving???
      • valvan, on 04/10/2008, -0/+0dt40, I was just thinking the same about $4 lattes and $3 sugar bomb muffins. And driving 20 miles to Home Depot to save .25 on a hammer rather than supporting your local hardware store, AND burning gas to get there. Don't get me started on bottled water!!
        I live in a tourist town (Hood River, Oregon http://www.copperwest.com/insider), and own a bike shop. I have days where I am nervous that people won't come here for vacation this summer (our high season). But at the end of the day, simple math as you did above shows us that gas prices are really not going to affect the overall cost of vacation, especially when compared to the cost of other things...like a latte. Thanks for pointing this out in such a straightforward manner.
    • xTerrySchiav0x, on 10/12/2007, -22/+6If gas went up to $4 i would just use my hoverboard to travel....
    • Itazura, on 10/12/2007, -33/+7"f someone's summer vacation is 200 miles away and their car gets 20MPG, then the difference between $4/gallon gas and $2.50/gallon gas is just (200/20) * (4-2.5) == $15."

      If you drive 200 miles in any direction you will never get the gas mileage that your car claims to recieve, hills, moutains, hundreds of stop lights, traffic jams, temperature all come into play here. And while the gas itself isnt the most expensive thing on your vacation, it combined with the wear and tear on using your car for such a long trip adds up enough to make you think about either flying or just staying home.
    • sofaKing812, on 10/12/2007, -3/+47@volinar

      It sucks balls, but I think (and very altruisticly hope) gas prices need to get out of control before any massive progress is made towards alternative fuel.
    • asif5th, on 10/12/2007, -11/+15I hate driving. Gas prices are bad enough, but the moronic drivers make it even worse. If you go 65 on the highway, get your ass in the right lane..not the lanes to the left. For those of you who have public transit, or don't have to commute far, I envy you.
    • anidal, on 10/12/2007, -6/+41In Saudi Arabia, the price of gas is currently $0.6 / gallon.
    • SirRudy, on 10/12/2007, -7/+60@dt40

      People are price sensitive about gas because our entire infrastructure and economy are dependent upon it.
      People buy bottled water because they are *****.
    • Konrad9, on 10/12/2007, -12/+8Maybe, instead of running these completely irrelevant polls, people should find out the REAL reason gas goes up and down.

      Oh wait, there isn't one.
    • spookyttww, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15*IF* it goes much over $3? I can't find gas for under $3.15/g and thats 86 octane.
    • EndersGame, on 10/12/2007, -3/+23The people that go to Starbucks and buy bottled water probably won't be the ones to alter their plans. I assume most people are like my parents and shunned all that overpriced crap, I think we only used bottled water back when we attended sporting events and even then we would usually fill a jug up with ice water. Although I don't think even my parents would cancel a planned trip just because gas went up a little, in my area we are already paying $3.50 a gallon.

      Oh and I agree 100% with sofaking, I wish gas prices reached 4 and 5 dollars a gallon years ago, maybe then this country would have some of its priorities straight.
    • Itazura, on 10/12/2007, -7/+22"Maybe, instead of running these completely irrelevant polls, people should find out the REAL reason gas goes up and down.

      Oh wait, there isn't one."

      There isn't a reason? It just happens at night when everyone is asleep and the oil fairy comes out and changes the signs?
    • Scatropolis, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15When I was in Venezuela gas was cheaper than water. You could fill a car tank for under $5.
    • fkr3, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12In Australia and Costa Rica we already pay what amounts to $4/gallon, and have been for a long time. Possibly even slightly more.
    • Mountaineer1024, on 10/12/2007, -2/+35Here in Adelaide Australia I'm paying an average of AU$1.30 per litre.
      According to google, 1 US gallon = 3.7854118 litres
      3.7854118 * 1.30 = 4.92103534
      So I'm paying AU$4.92 per gallon
      That's $4.05 USD at the current exchange rate.

      And there are plenty of places in the world where petrol is even dearer than that. Americans don't seem to understand just how good they have it.
    • Konrad9, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Perhaps, Itazura, I was referring to how gas jumps up in price whenever the oil companies have the slightest reason to.
      But then, when those 'reasons' go away, they very, VERY slowly bring gas prices down again.
      Tell me, how did a hurricane that screwed up the south make the gas in giant tanks underneath gas stations in Connecticut more expensive? Did the hurricane go back in time and make the gas stations pay more money for it? Thereby forcing them to charge more to recoup losses?
      Nope. Every extra penny on those prices was pure profit for each of those stations.
      Know how much it was in Georgia? Upwards of $5 a gallon.
      Prices more than doubled because of an event that had no impact on the gas that was already at stations.
      I wish, WISH, the government would put a giant tax on gas, which charged the consumers AND oil companies a few extra dollars a gallon, because then people wouldn't buy it, and we'd be forced to find other means of transportation. Alternatively powered cars, bikes, *GASP* walking.
      But that's never going to happen.


      I was not referring to the people that change the number on the sign. If you really think I was, you're an idiot.

      Oh hey, and are these 75% the parents of those high school kids who said they'd drop $500 on an iPhone?
      Saving $500 might help pay for that summer vacation.
    • Jaymo89, on 10/12/2007, -4/+18$4 a gallon? That's nothing!
      Welcome to Australia, $1.50AU per litre. That makes it about $5.50AU for a gallon. Couple that in with the fact that Americans have more disposable income on average and our wages are equivalent figure wise, it makes things very pricey.
      Europe is even worse.

      The United States has the best petrol (gas) prices outside of the middle east.
    • TrevorBradley, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Gas in Canada is already at $4 US/gallon:

      1.209($CDN/L) * 3.78 (L/gallon) / 1.147($US/$CDN) = $3.98US/gallon

      Yes, yes I know, the Europeans have it much worse, and taxes on gas in Vancouver are hefty. But prices have been gradually increasing after passing the psychological threshold of $1CDN/L here...

      $4US/G gas is a reality in your future guys, get used to it.
    • Elranzer, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2$4 a gallon? And people wonder why the French cut off Marie Antoinette's head...
    • jonnyboy88, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7"Expensive" is a relative term.
    • doombo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+30$4 a gallon sounds incredibly cheap to me. Here in Europe we are now around 1.3€/litre which
      would translate to $6.7 a gallon, if I'm not wrong.
      On the other hand, when I read "20mpg car" as something normal, it's really funny....
      that's probably what you get with a Porsche or a Ferrari here.. a normal car on a normal trip
      (i.e. driving outside cities) would drive around 20Km/Litre which translates to 45Mpg circa.

      So what I'm telling is: don't complain and buy more efficient cars!!
    • Nysul, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10dt40
      Lets take that a step further. I live in AZ, my parents live in CA. It's about 600 miles and takes ~7 hours to drive there. Using your example "If someone's summer vacation is 600 miles away and their car gets 20MPG, then the difference between $4/gallon gas and $2.50/gallon gas is just (600/20) * (4-2.5) == $45."

      So $45 each way, making a total of $90. While $90 may not alter my plans, it's still a decent chunk of change, and could be spent going out to dinner instead.
    • SerpentMage, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16When people complain in Europe on how they have expensive gas it is not the same thing. I live in Europe and distances are much closer, which makes a difference in the pocket book. I grew up in Canada and the US and to get anywhere you had to sit yourself in the car for at least 15 minutes.

      The distances in America and Canada are that much greater and thus it will hurt when gas prices go up. As one poster said they drive 600 miles (which is not that far) and that costs almost a hundred dollars more. In Europe 600 miles will take you from the North Sea to the Mediterran, and for most Europeans is a HUGE trip. To get the equivalent trip in North America you would drive from Toronto to Florida and that would be 1,200 miles (or double the trip).
    • badoli, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4@serpentMage

      No, distance isn't everything. If you drive like 10 miles an empty road at a normal pace, you use far less gasoline as if you drive the same distance in a city, where you have to stop all the time for traffic lights. And mind the difference between US and european cities, which are much more compressed and traffic jams all the time.

      Price in Austria for normal gas is about 0.945 eur per liter, which is about 4.8 $ per gallon. And our prices rise also all of the time, so cry me a river. Maybe GM should finally start to think about building less thirsty cars?
    • Julolidine, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16I live in Europe as well (despite being an American). The amusing thing is despite how expensive gasoline is - the cost for traveling similar distances is almost the same - this is almost entirely offset by the high mpg cars. 45-70mpg is not uncommon and those aren't even hybrids.

      If you have 2x the gas price, but 2x the gas efficiency, it costs you the same to go 100 miles.

      ::shock::
    • wyrdness, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15Consider yourselves lucky. In Britain at the moment, it's current 91 pence per litre. According to my calculations, at the current exchange rate, that is $6.66 (!!) per US gallon.

      Us europeans get really annoyed about americans whinging about the price of fuel, when they pay far less for it than we do.
    • Y0tsuya, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7"The United States has the best petrol (gas) prices outside of the middle east."

      When you buy in bulk, you save.
    • idigittoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Summer travel is the problem? if on average I spend now $50 a week x 52 weeks = approx $2500 a year.
      a 50% increase will be another $1250 year
    • Krane, on 10/12/2007, -0/+64$ per gallon? I wish we had that cheap gas. In Finland 95Oct costs 6.5$ per gallon.
    • ricerfuel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5In England we have to pay around $6 for a gallon, when i went on holiday to America i couldn't believe it was so cheap. Consider yourselves lucky. Maybe we don't notice it here because the cars are more fuel efficient.
    • insomn3ak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10@Mountaineer1024:
      "And there are plenty of places in the world where petrol is even dearer than that. Americans don't seem to understand just how good they have it."

      I think they DO realize how good they have it, and they want to keep it that way.
    • SherlockReport, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2The US pays nothing for gas compared to the rest of the world, but that's why we have WAR for OIL, that's why we blew up own World Trade Center on 9/11 (FALSE FLAG). That's why we keep the Saudi princes happy with their supply white women and cocaine.

      In the the UK and Germany gas or 'petrol' as they call it is around $6-$6.50 per US gallon. If we paid those prices we couldn't even afford to catch the BUS!!! And don't give me that old red-neck yankie boy 'the europeans drive small cars in Europe BS.' The Europeans drive the same cars we do in the US, and better, I see more Benzes, Jags, SUVs and BMWs in Europe than I do in the US!!!

      It doesn't matter how smart the Indians or Chinese ever get, we have all the OIL & GAS, and the Russians bear doing circus tricks for us, the US will always be NUMBER ONE.
    • kazoolist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@konrad9

      "Oh wait, there isn't one."
      The laws of supply & demand aren't a "real reason", huh?

      You'll probably be horrified to know this, but you and Bill O'Reilly actually share the same position on this:
      http://www.newshounds.us/2005/09/02/oreilly_guest_big_oil_should_be_allowed_to_gouge_consumers.php
    • SammyJr, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2To all the people saying that Americans have it great on gas prices, you're wrong.

      Sure we have cheaper gas, but our gas prices only buy us gas and maybe some war. European gas prices buy you guys things like excellent public transportation, universal health care, and college educations.

      An excellent selection of diesel cars is available over there. Much better mileage. Small cars don't suck there either. Obviously better mileage.

      I'd gladly pay $6 a gallon if it were paying for those kinds of things. I wouldn't have had college debt or money out of my paycheck for health insurance. And with better public transportation, my wife and I could get by on one car.

      Comparing European and American gas prices is apples and oranges.
    • mdfrake, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2@dt40

      The question is about choice. People choose to spend $3 on a cup of coffee. People choose to spend $2 on a bottle of water. People can't choose to gas up their car, then can only choose where. With the oil companies in collusion to make millions of dollars (Exxon posting another record profit year), the choice is limited, often just a penny or two different than a gas station down the street. I'm angry about gas at $2.50 a gallon. Before Iraq it was at $1.50 a gallon. And the media was making it seem that $2 a gallon was cheap.

      The only choice we have is not to drive, and that is the choice that people will be making this summer for vacation destinations.
    • Ins0mn1ac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Last year everyone said that $3 gas would affect their plans.
      It hit over $3, everyone paid and whined except for the oil companies who posted record profits (Exxon made $75,000 every minute of 2006).

      Last year the oil companies called your bluff. If you really want things to change, stop buying gas.
      Walk, ride a bike, take a bus, take a train, car pool. Its not that hard, you just have to accept the fact that you can't choose whats on the radio.
    • Guspaz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Huh? What's so bad about $4 per gallon? That's roughly what we're paying in Montreal now. It fluctuates, sometimes a bit over, sometimes a bit under.

      I don't see what the big deal is. It's been like that for ages, the worst that has happened is delivery services raised their prices a bit due to a fuel surcharge.

      People need to stop spreading FUD about the world ending because gas prices in the US are going to go up slightly.
    • mousky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Gasoline expenditures account for 3 to 6 percent of household expenses - not really enough to make a huge impact. But it's the whole psychological aspect that people cannot get over. Unlike most other things people consume, the price of gasoline is in plain view, so you see every minute change. You see prices go up and down in the same day.
    • sdsurf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@dt40:

      Hear, hear... finally someone who gets it. I've been saying this for years. If you do the math (as dt40 did), you can pretty easily see that what it comes down to is this: the sad reality is that if you're going on a vacation with your family, and there's a very real break point where a cost difference of $30, $50, $80 bucks amortized over a week's vacation is going to cause you to be strapped financially - here's a thought: you probably shouldn't be taking that vacation at all. You can't afford it. Plain and simple. I know it sounds callous, but it's true. Or... simply do what my family did when I was growing up - buy lunchmeat and bread and have lunch or breakfast in the hotel instead of taking the whole family out to eat every meal. There's your $50 right there. The problem is this sense of entitlement that people seem to have these days - they act as though vacationing and leisure are rights that are being "stolen" from them by the evil oil companies this summer.

      And to the people who say that buying Starbucks lattes daily for what equates to $45 a gallon and bottled water is a "choice" and buying gasoline isn't - unfortunately you're wrong. It is very much a choice, and furthermore - the ability to buy cheap (relative term anyhow) is not a right that you have. It's a commodity, and as such, they'll charge whatever the market will bear. Up 'till now, we the American buying public have shown the oil companies that we can still "bear it", and as such, don't expect gas prices to be coming down anytime soon.
    • knupso, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2My question is at what price do we start going all Road Warrior?
    • sven007, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I agree with both dt40 and sdsurf.

      It all comes down the making major profits everywhere. imagine if the oil industry would have reasonable profits! the price of gas would be so much lower. Same with coffee and every other thing purchased. Imagine the upset if costco started selling wholesale gas! man, that would solve every problem. the solution too all price problems is to reduce corporate profits, because someone who has 100 million dollars doesn't need more money.
    • terrya64, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't car how much it cost, you can't do anything about it. and compared to other things that come in 1 gallon sizes, gas is quite a bargain. How many people buy little bottles of water at over a dollar each. How much would a gallon of Pepsi cost? How many of you are sitting here complaing while drinking your $5 Starbucks? Gas is what it is, get used to it. I for one don't even know how much gas is most of the time when I buy it. Will higher gas prices make me cancel my summer vacation,ummm no. What if the gas hits $4 and never comes back down does that mean some of you will never go on vacation again? All I can say is that I will look forward to less traffic this summer.
    • volinar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Where I live it is currently $2.76 a gallon.
    • volinar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@ dt40

      I don't buy bottled water, I don't drink coffee (starbucks), and all of the cars I have purchased have been pre-owned.
      I'm on a tight budget (Single income family) and when gas prices go up...we feel the pinch big time.
  • allaboutdatiki, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I'm not doubting the dire prediction, but where does this article provide attribution for these figures?
    • mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Well there were surveys of people saying the same thing about gas prices hitting $3, and yet traveling actually INCREASED.
    • All4not, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yes, the price will rise and test the market like they did around Katrina then drop back down for a while and make us feel good about gas at $2.35. The same will happen when the market rises to $3.50 and then $4, while they drop it in between.

      It will change very few people's habits, back in the late 90's $1.50 was a crap load for gas when it got there a few years ago and $2 was just ridiculous. Now everyone would love to have gas for $2.

      The only thing is alternative energy sources for cars start actually becoming viable when gas is at $4, because most of the alternatives cost between $3-$4 for the same mileage as a gallon of gas. Therefore, I don't actually see the oil tycoons in the middle east raising oil high enough that Americans really start implementing alternative fuels. I figure it will hover around the $3-$3.50 range for a quite a while before we see $4/gallon.
  • tinker123, on 10/12/2007, -12/+14$4 for a gallon of gas could be a good thing. It would make people drive less, drive more efficiently, reducing pollution and global warming. It is hard to listen to people whine about gas prices when you see hummers, SUVS, and minivans all over the roads. Yah, ruined vacation plans suck, but it is time to start driving reasonable cars again, pushing for laws to make car companies look into making cars that use less gas, etc.

    Watch the documentry

    WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR

    Then look up "Tesla Motors" and "plugin america" on google

    • foamweapons, on 10/12/2007, -1/+34After looking into WHY oil prices are so high... I don't think high gas prices will help EVs come to market... although it might piss off enough people to take action and demand electric cars.

      This summer oil companies will once again artificially increase gas prices. My estimate is that the real price of gas is below $1.50 and if a technology actually challenged the oil companies, they could lower it below $1.50 overnight (which is still way more expensive than the equivalent in an EV). Ok, it's time for my spiel to back up my claims:

      Back in 2001, there was a revealing investigation on oil company price gouging, but Congress did nothing about it. In Senator Wyden's investigation he notes: "Specifically, the documents suggest that major oil companies pursued efforts to curtail refinery capacity as a strategy for improving profit margins; that competing oil companies worked together to subvert supply; that refinery closures inhibited supply; and that oil companies are reaping record profits."[1]

      As reported by Public Citizen "Profit margins for oil refiners have been at record highs. In 1999, for every gallon of gasoline refined from crude oil, U.S. oil refiners made a profit of 22.8 cents. By 2004, the profits jumped 80% to 40.8 cents per gallon of gasoline refined." Contrary to popular belief, "environmental regulations are not preventing new refineries from being built in the U.S. From 1975 to 2000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received only one permit request for a new refinery. And in March, EPA approved Arizona Clean Fuels’ application for an air permit for a proposed refinery in Arizona. In addition, oil companies are regularly applying for – and receiving – permits to modify and expand their existing refineries." [2]

      If you look at these oil companies investor reports, you will see it is price gouging. Take Exxon/Mobil. Last year as a share of capital investment, Exxon Mobil made a 46% rate of return on it's US oil operations, a 59% profit margin on it's US oil refining. They love reporting this information to their investors, because these margins are unheard of in other industries. While a barrel of oil costs $20 to make, they turn around and sell it for $70.[3]

      It's also a myth that OPEC sets the prices. The prices are set on energy trading markets. Back in 2000, the oil lobby wrote some legislation called the "Commodities Futures Modernization Act." It deregulated the energy trading exchanges, meaning over half of the trades are unregulated. When the oil companies are the main ones throwing money around, it's easy for them to hike up the price.

      I want nothing more than EVs to come to market, but it's important to realize that oil prices are a scam first... we are at an 8-year supply-high for oil because U.S. refineries (owned by oil companies) are storing their crude and not refining it to jack up the prices.[4] EVs can stop the scam, but if oil companies are bold enough to charge twice as much for oil as it's worth, how worried can they be?
      Only citizen action, and refusing to buy gasoline cars in the future can force the auto-manufacturers to either make plug-in vehicles or stop selling cars:
      http://pluginpartners.com/whatYouCanDo/onlinePetition.cfm

      Sources:
      [1] http://wyden.senate.gov/leg_issues/reports/wyden_oil_report.pdf
      [2] http://69.63.136.213/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/electricity/Oil_and_Gas/articles.cfm?ID=11829
      [3] http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/electricity/Oil_and_Gas/articles.cfm?ID=11829
      [4] http://www.citizen.org/documents/Natural%20Gas%20Testimony.pdf
    • Volkov137, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3@foamweapons

      Capitalism blows sometimes, doesn't it :(

      And occasionally, it sucks.
    • grinin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I couldn't agree more. The rest of the world has been paying much higher than $4 per gallon. In europe I think they pay something like $3 per liter! (Do the math, its a lot more than what we pay)

      This government needs to stop subsidizing oil for the benefit of all these oil companies (including their own) and I promise we will make leaps and bounds in the realm of greening the earth. I'm happy that there will soon be another XPrize for electric vehicles, I think that should have been a higher priority than space, but I understand.

      IF they ever stop subsidizing fuel, you'll all these US automotive companies seriously go bankrupt. Everyone will be selling their hummers and buying themselves some new hybrids or something. Even the idiots buying those things right now, know that they're being retarded in doing so...

      Ughh.. this argument can go on and on
    • jeffkelso, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0That's exactly what we need, more bureaucracy through laws... that's probably why gas is so high already... How long before the government just issue's me a car and everyone is charged a "car charge tax" in our payroll check?
  • nerdherder, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2I don't think this would make any difference for vacatioin hot spot revenue. They say that people will vacation closer to home so these 'vacation hot spots' will lose revenue. But that just means that the vacation hot spots will have more local visitors to make up for the ones that live far away.
  • shoppingkart, on 10/12/2007, -6/+4Internet, you and I are going to hang out this summer. I want to go to Brazil. Please pull up a public webcam in Brazil.

    Computer (mumbles): First WoW. Now Brazil. I need a vacation.
  • phantomsnow, on 10/12/2007, -7/+4If every single person in America drank 15 gallons of Steel Reserve a week, it would probably cost more than 8 dollars a case, no?

    • BriSoFli, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6You make an excellent point using impeccable logic.
    • overtoke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4similar ***** with toilet paper. if everyone wiped 15 times per dump the price of TP would put us all in the *****
  • phantomsnow, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3
    .
  • DigablePlanet, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Ahhhhh....No *****. I just realized the power of Amtrak for travel. KC to Chicago is $75 bucks and inbetween is cheaper. That's the thing people don't realize. Can I fly? Well flying is X amount of dollars. Driving? Well driving is X amount of dollars to get from point A to point B because gas is so high. Thusly, I will sit on my ass. People disregard a train. Seriously, discover Amtrak and utilize it. Sometime, someday in America we will have to, God forbid, use public transportation for long distances. Go to Europe, a train is the best way to get anywhere because cheap Airlines (RyanAir, Easyjet, etc) drop you off quite a distance from where you actually want to be and it is so easy to get anywhere. Think about it.
    • Artifez, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Traveling by train to Florida was the worst experience I have ever had, we arrived 8 hours late and the A/C in my car broke so it was around 500000 degrees in there. Amtrak is the worst possible way to travel.
    • itsme92, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3One great thing about Amtrak, at least from city-to-city travel, is that it drops you off right in the middle of the city, instead of flying and getting dropped off 40 minutes away from downtown. When I went on a trip over on the East Coast last summer, I used Amtrak to go from Wilmington - NY, and then NY - Providence. It's one of the most comfortable methods of transportation I know of, and you get a better window view than you get on a plane or in a car. And I didn't need to be backed up in Manhattten traffic or get strip searched by the TSA.
    • Konrad9, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Amtrak is good if you want a moderately cheap means of transportation and don't feel like doing much of anything with your life for the majority of the day.
      That said, it was cheaper to fly between NYC and Burlington, VT. It also took about 2 hours (house -> airport -> fly -> land -> dorm), as opposed to 10-12 hours on the train.
    • JavaApe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Amtrack is a joke. I used to take it between Washington and Montana state. They're ALWAYS late, usually by several hours (on a trip that's supposed to take just over six hours). Customer support is horrible -- I'm moderately surprised that they don't use cattle-prods to load the passengers more quickly, so you can sit and wait for another 45 minutes until the conductor finishes his coffee. The only good good trip I ever had on Amtrack was in a sleeper car with my wife, and that had nothing to do with THEIR service.
  • ericdano, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I'm bicycling as much as possible this year. Daylight savings coming earlier meant that I started riding to work earlier. I was spending almost $40 a week on gas. I spent $40 in the last 3 weeks. I plan on giving the oil monopoly as little of my money as possible this summer.
    • nufoto, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I started Cycling last spring to work! stopped for the winter, I will start up again when things get warmer! 18k a day! It was a feel good ride: exercise, environmentally friendly, And I didn't support extremists or Mideast Harem's! Win Win!
  • codyman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Gas is expensive.. but I can't really complain. While my SUV friends get like 15 mpg or whatever, I'm getting 32 mpg highway doing 85 mph in my 5 speed '05 neon... today I filled up ($3.17) a gallon, cost me 34 bucks, and I'll be good for another two weeks on that...
    • jguy584, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9Your not getting 35mpg doing 85 in your neon. I guarantee you that.
      Doing 85 you might well match your friend at 15mpg
    • MiDri, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4From my experience you burn more gas getting to 85, but if you keep 85 it is not that much different then 65.
    • tuxidomasx, on 10/12/2007, -17/+2yea, but that neon would fold like a tin can in an accident.

      as soon as i can afford it, i'll probably get a nice big SUV. automobiles are dangerous. the bigger the car, the safer you are (usually)
    • burgerboy06, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1@jguy584 (#6099508)
      Ok mr. I have to correct math guy...calm down
    • MadModMike, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3You could just...not crash...
    • wilsgrant, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8@tuxidomasx
      "as soon as i can afford it, i'll probably get a nice big SUV. automobiles are dangerous. the bigger the car, the safer you are (usually)"

      Please do some research on vehicle safety.
    • itsme92, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@tuxidomasx

      I guess you aren't thinking the way I do, which is the bigger the car, the more ***** the other guy is in the accident. And, you should see what happens when an SUV hits another SUV. I'll give you a hint...it ain't pretty seeing two body-on-frame vehicles with minimal crumple zones hit each other.
    • leoedin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@tuxidomasx

      Simply not true. While SUV's are bigger, and generally have more solid bodywork, the crumple zones used in SUV's are minimal compared to a lot of european cars. Its also worth noting that the danger of rolling (swerve an SUV at 70MPH and it will flip and roll) presents a great danger to those in an SUV, where a smaller car would simply spin.
    • jpbleuu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@tuxidomasx

      and its thanks to morons like you who waste so much gas that we are spending what we are at the pump now.
    • SammyJr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ jguy584

      I commute to work daily. I fill 11.5 gallons every 3 days and get 300 miles in that 11.5 gallons, roughly 26mpg.

      My commute is 40% stop-and-go and 60% highway. I average 85mph on the highway.

      Considering my car is rated 23 city, 30 highway, I think I'm right where I should be. Much better than that 15mpg you're thinking.
  • gab00n, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1That is such a lame excuse.
  • BriSoFli, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7It takes the price of fuel to go up a couple of bucks to get people to drive less. Global warming (the destruction of life as we know it) isn't enough to get anyone to alter their summer plans. We really are just selfish consumers, aren't we?
  • Regulator980, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Traveling by SouthWest for Californians is completely awesome right now. For example, flights to from here all the way to Long Island for $99 one-way. Check it out if you guys want.

    http://www.southwest.com/hotfares/
    • funk49, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@regulator980

      I don't know how flying on SW to the East Coast is now from California, but when I did it 10 years ago, it was ***** terrible. Imagine taking the flying equivalent of Greyhound and you get a good idea. We stopped at every damn city from Burbank to Columbus. I think we stopped in 8 cities and everytime we landed, it felt like the plane was going to crash on the runway. All this to save $100. Southwest is great for short jaunts, but they lost me forever on that one. Maybe things have changed...
    • galore, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0$99 to Long Island as per the ad. But knowing airlines, this can only be a bait.

      So I just looked it up and went through the flight selection using the Shortcut To Low Fares tool on the SW site (which gives you the flights and dates with the best available price). The $99 magically became $139 one-way. With restrictions up the wazoo. And with taxes and fees the final price for the roundtrip is $321.90.

      What a scam.
  • 1911wolf, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12Don't need to alter a thing here. My summer usually consists of my feet, a 3-day pack and a long hike/campout at a local state park. If I'm not doing that, I'm on a bike. No gasoline involved.
    • cougar618, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12Congratulations. You win the internetz.
  • lifeandtimes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I can't remember where I heard this, it may have been on Fox News' Neil Cavuto's show. I know people hate Fox News here, but read before you digg me down.

    Where ever I heard it, they were saying that when gas prices are high, people buy more hybrids and other alternative vehicles. So, for those of you who agree that global warming is caused by humans, one of the things that will help your cause is that gas prices remain high. Like it or not, high gas prices lead to increased demand and purchases of alternative vehicles. It sucks for people who cannot afford to go out and replace their gas hungry vehicle with a new hybrid though, and I don't have anything to say for those types of people.
    • kitwaites, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Buying hybrids does not help the environment - NOT buying stupidly wasteful cars like SUVs does. It takes loads and loads of energy to manufacturer a car, doubly so for hybrids because there's two engines to make and you need heavy metals to make the batteries.

      The most eco-friendly way to drive is to buy a second hand diesel car and use vegetable oil or biodiesel to run it. It's what I did - I pay 8p per litre for waste oil, filter it and chuck it straight in. Carbon neutral and my exhaust smells of doughnuts! Best of all, it works out at less than 60c/US gal.
  • RomeyRome, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Bring on $5. Hello wide open roads for me. :)
  • baseless, on 10/12/2007, -2/+34 bucks still cheap compared to euro standards....its only going to get worse.... plus because of all this biofuel conversion a dollar fuel is also going to create 4 dollar bread .... here is why
    http://weekendeconomist.blogspot.com/2007/01/26.html

    • kitwaites, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Making bread requires 1 tablespoon of oil - significant amounts. Products that will really go up in price will be the highly processed ones that use loads of fat - and to be honest, with the amount of fat people nowadays forcing them to buy healthily and get on their bikes may be no bad thing.
  • jimthetaff, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1$4 a gallon!!! I wish! you should try filling up here in the UK where it would cost you closer to $9 a gallon...
    • brucerchapman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1You've got your figures wrong. 1 GPB = 1.78 USD. 1 US Gallon = 3.785 litres. Therefore, fuel prices of 1 litre @ .90GBP = .9 * 1.78 * 3.785 = $6.06 USD/Gal

      UK gallons do not equal US gallons
    • dkirkham, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3You can't really compare UK and US "gas" prices. We get decent octane fuel, I think most cars in the UK simply wouldn't function if they had to use the 80-odd octane water that the Americans have. The difference is noticable on optimax (98) to regular 96 octane, so running 86 would probably cause huge problems!

      On the other hand, when I fill up locally it costs me nearer $7 a gallon, and that's just local variation! Ca you imagine the fuss that would be kicked up if the people living less than 20 miles away where paying almost a dollar less/gallon?
    • tehwinnar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@brucerchapman

      £1 gbp = $1.97680 usd

      Therefore, fuel prices of 1 litre @ .90GBP = .9 * 1.97680 * 3.785 = $6.73 USD/Gal

      £1 gbp hasnt been worth less than $1.80 usd in years
    • ExSlashdotter, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@dkirkham

      Try reading up on what octane is before you make comments, please. The higher the octane rating, the MORE ADDITIVES are put in to make the fuel BURN SLOWER. Less octane doesnt make it any more/less 'water'. Engines with higher compression ratios often need higher octane so that the fuel doesn't ignite under compression, causing a 'ping'.

      Higher or lower octane is not 'better' or 'worse' gas. Just use the fuel thats recommended for your engine.
  • xelloss, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Ah, I hate gas prices, it Cost me 30 bucks in gas just to go to 4 classes each week. + What ever driving I need to do.
  • kolobcreek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@dt40
    I can't remember the last time I drank four gallons of Starbucks Coffee or Four gallons of water in one sitting.

    So here is how it works. Gas goes up. People find cheaper means of travel.

    The oil cartel figures out that electric cars are coming back into style. Then oil drops to $20 per barrel gas drops to $1.00/gal.
  • computergod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3$6/week Canadian on gas for my moped. I ride it everywhere, even just drive around for fun/exploring the city when it is nice out. It's way faster then taking a car when since I live and work downtown. You can legally drive it in the bicycle or car lane, so traffic jams don't really exist, and you can lock it to a parking sign like a bicycle.

    Only use for a car is when moving big stuff or if the weather really sucks, but that is what Autoshare is for.
  • brucerchapman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@dt40 : right on. Increases in fuel costs are a fraction of the overall cost of car ownership, and for most people, less than they would spend on takeaway coffee.

    @itazura: You're not making sense. It doesn't matter what the manufacturer says about your car, it's pretty much going to return the same mileage going on the same trip from one year to the next. If I drive 200 miles into the mountains in my car (whatever it may be) and get 20mpg, then next summer, if I do the same trip in the same car, I'm going to get 20mpg. Both summers you are going to use 10 gallons of gas to do it.

    But if this summer the gas price has gone from $3/gallon to $4/gallon, it's going to cost you an extra $10 for the trip. No matter what the manufacturer says about your cars mileage.

    If your 20mpg car did 10,000 miles a year (average for some people) a jump from $3 to $4 a gallon is $500 - less than $10 a week. Hard for those on the ragged edge of poverty, but for your average salary earner it's not going to break the bank. The thing is, by the time you pay the transaction costs (taxes, dealer margins, deliveries - probably at least $1500 for an ordinary
  • hdtvdust, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Yeah, so? Gas prices are expected to peak at $2.90 for the summer. So who cares?
  • thornbottle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16Typical that americans are complaining about something that is so cheap compared to other developed contries.

    we get taxed 80% in england for petrol. Its currently 90p per liter at its cheapest.
    If we convert that to american money it turns out to be nearly $7 a gallon.
    I cant believe how selfish americans are to be honest. You refuse to cut emissions, refuse to join any anti-pollution treaty and are the main reason the world is as bad as it is now. Is it any wonder most of the world hates you?
    • tbo0, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2In case you haven't noticed, North America is just a bit bigger than England. I mean, you can drive from one end of England to the other in a single day. By comparison, it's not uncommon for North Americans to drive thousands of miles on a single trip. Larger distances equals more gas equals more net tax for the same percentage rate.
    • galore, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"In case you haven't noticed, North America is just a bit bigger than England."

      Yeah, but you should compare NA with EU and not with GB only. It'll take you more than a day to drive from Edinburgh to Athens with gas prices in the $6-$7/gal range all the way.
    • supaphly42, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2that's still about 700 miles (~1126KM) less than driving from Maine to California. Plus, how many people actually go that far, as opposed to the number of people that vacation (holiday) right in the UK?
  • Irimi, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4LISTEN UP:
    it is those hysterically idiotic futures traders driving up the prices.
  • doombo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6(please digg down the other comment: I hit the wrong button: sorry!!)

    $4 a gallon sounds incredibly cheap to me. Here in Europe we are now around 1.3€/litre which
    would translate to $6.7 a gallon, if I'm not wrong.
    On the other hand, when I read 20mpg is a "normal car", it sounds funny: our typical cars drive around 45 mpg outside cities.

    Let's do some maths:
    US: 4 ($/gallon) / 20 (miles/gallon) = 0.2 $/mile
    EU: 6.7 ($/gallon) / 45 (miles/gallom) 0.15$/mile (circa)
    Gas is FAR more expensive here, but since we got efficient cars, we spend less
    on gas... so stop complaining, and star buying efficient cars (which by the way reduce pollution,
    which is something nice)




  • nwoantibody, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I wonder what percentage of those people understand that an airbombing of nuclear sites in Iran is going to cost them far beyond 5bucks/gallon. More like 10bucks/gallon at least. Estimates are of 300$/barril... So... Forget your cheesy vacations and start saving cash and make water reserves cause you'll be walking a lot in the coming months.
    • brucerchapman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7umm... oil is never going to $300 a barrel (in todays money).. Just about every other alternative fuel source starts becoming feasible at probably $150 a barrel. Trust me, for $300 a barrel, I'd be brewing and refining my own ethanol from kitchen scraps and lawn clippings. Electric car sales would skyrocket. Think it can't be done? Think again. Brazil has a massive ethanol car fleet.

      Alternatives for oil already exist and are feasible, but none can beat the low cost of producing oil. Take away that advantage by making oil over $100 a barrel, and it's no longer the best energy source. It won't get over $100 a barrel in my lifetime. Again, I mean $100 in todays money, not 100 2020 dollars which is going to be worth about 50 2007 dollars.
    • Afreyt, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6The thing is, when I was in grade school, I was told that when the price of oil hit $30 a barrel, it became profitable to start cracking our own from oil shale. I can only assume this was an error, because I would think we would be looking towards self sufficiency already. If we are not, it can only be because either its still cheaper to import, or the people that would stand to profit are betting the price comes down too soon to be worth their while to start pumping on local reserves.
    • h00paj00, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I assume they meant $30 in grade school year dollars, which depending on when you were in grade school, could be anything by today's dollars.

      Also, environmentalist groups block every effort in the U.S. to drill for new oil to even attempt at being self sufficient. Alaska's ANWR, Off the coast of California, off the coast of Ted Kennedy's beach house...
    • h00paj00, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Inflation Calculator:

      http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

      Put your $30 in and your gradeschoolyear and see what it is in today's dollars.

      Oil is at $62 a barrel right now.
  • ousthouse, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4Nearly 75% of people surveyed lied.
    • Afreyt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Nobody is not going to take a trip because of this. You're absolutely right. My God, we might have to sacrifice a case of beers to go to Yosemite this year compared to last year. If the price of gas is what ruins your vacation, you shouldn't be vacationing anyway because you have MUCH LARGER PROBLEMS.

    • lordchronos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0They must have taken this survey at an RV park. That's the only way it makes sense.
  • AudioAtrocity, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@Irimi

    Everyone else has it wrong, it really is the futures traders and hedge funds that drive up prices. http://bloomberg.com/markets/commodities/energyprices.html is set on my bookmark toolbar. I suggest everyone else do the same since you will see that the prices fluctuate almost 24/7 (When markets are open in Asia, Europe, or the US)

    I've watched energy prices since early 2004 and I can guarantee it is speculators that drive up the price every time a hostage crisis arises, Nigeria kills a derrick man or when a bear ***** in the woods.

    Want gas prices to go down? DRIVE LESS! Taxation will do nothing but increase the price of goods transported by truck (basically anything you get anywhere in the US) Wholesalers will simply up their prices to match the additional cost of diesel.

    Don't believe me? It happened in the 1970s.
    • hukedonfonix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thank you, i've been looking for a site like this. But can you edumacate me for a second here, what am i exactly looking at? Take this line for example:

      --------------------------------------------------PRICE*--CHANGE----%CHANGE------TIME
      Nymex RBOB Gasoline Future------215.87-------3.57-----------1.68------------14:55

      PRICE: Price of what? Obviously it's not of oil per barrel, hopefully it never gets that high within my lifetime.
      CHANGE: Change of price? Change between now and when? Couple of minutes ago, an hour, yesterday?

      The rest is obvious, thanks again. I need to start keeping tabs on things like this, and hopefully fill up before prices get all the way up there.
  • FrederikNS, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Here in Denmark we pay around 9 danish crowns for 1 liter of gas, that's 1.62 US dollars, which equates to 6.13 US dollars per gallon, and I still can't get why you Americans whine about your "outrageous" prices for gas.
    • alarion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Why? Because the distance some of us drive to work each day would be a cross-country trip for some of you Europeans.
  • Afreyt, on 10/12/2007, -5/+4OH NOOOOZZZZZ!!!111111oneoneoneone

    I can't tell you how much I don't give a ***** about this. We've had cheap gas for over 40 years, and a 25% increase "Oh no, I'm not gonna travel as much, this is a crisis!"

    Cry me a river, dude (or dudette), because your priorities are *****. $3, $4 dollars, its the cheapest labor you've ever found. God forbid the externalities of the economy start cropping up in the price structure. You're buying thousands of years worth of decomposed ferns and yet you bitch.
    • Afreyt, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3I have learned, that to get dugg down on digg means you spoke the uncomfortable truth. I win.

      Fear me, and my truth speaking, weak willed fools who change travel plans because your 3 ton stupid utility vehicle requires a fuel that you have not yet learned to excrete as a waste product from your pathetic non-energy producing bowels.

  • Leomarth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I was in Texas last week... $2.52 a gallon. Here in Arizona, $2.76 right now. I've started riding my motorcycle much more lately.

    I agree with a previous comment that something like this will help spur development of alt fuels though. And, it will also cause people to conserve.

    On the other side of things, something I've found out from history, back in the '60's, gas comprised a much higher portion of income than it does nowadays. So, I guess by adjusted dollars, we're cheaper than what we were 45 years ago.
  • silversilver, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2The rest of the world has no idea how many liters are in a gallon.
  • goosefaba, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I'm in Seattle and the cheapest is 2.97 most places are 3.08-3.15, and we all know theres no damn reason for it. It's been stated that oil prices are jacked up because this is the time that people do road trips. So because the demand is up rather than make prices better so more people could travel they jack them up to rape the few that are willing to pay, not to mention the toll on all those who are just commuters.
  • Kakcoo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3In Norway, we pay about $8 per gallon. Time to swallow the hard facts: Your garage is not a container of human rights!
    • Artifez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Your country is also half the size of my state.
    • SammyJr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4You also get health insurance, decent public transportation, and college for your gas tax. Americans just get gouged.
  • imjustsayin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If a one or even two dollar increase in gas prices alters your summer vacation, you can't afford to take that vacation to begin with. We are talking $50 difference in the price per 1000 miles driven if your vehicle gets 20 mpg (for a $1 increase). One night in most hotels will cost you more than this increase will. If things are so tight for you that this means you can't take your vacation, you can't afford to go in first place regardless of fuel prices. Even if they dropped to $1 a gallon, it wouldn't save you enough.
  • Skotasma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Here gas is 6.5$ a gallon and my car uses 7liters on 100km -no, I don't wanna do that one in MPG.
    I'm now driving roughly 10 years and in that time the gas price doubled.
    People were complaining all the time -but what changed? Seriously not a lot.
    About everybody goes on vacation even more now - people fly more - maybe.
    SUVs still sell and the car manufacturers still keep on building them.

    Even after bird flu people still eat chicken, they eat beef, they smoke, go everywhere by car.. and they complain about it.
  • thomasprebble, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I hope it ***** does. Then you can see how bad it is OUTSIDE of the USA. Some are even saying the price we pay helps SUBSIDIZE your comparatively low fuel prices.
  • gnazzah, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1In Norway (which by the way produces quite an amount of oil) you can find gas for $7 a gallon (what's up with your measurements, by the way? Metrics has been around for a while now...) if you're lucky and live around Oslo (the capital). For the most part, the gas is even more expensive.
  • iainc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2$4 a gallon; you lucky, lucky bastards! Here in the UK we pay roughly $7 per US Gallon, though most of that (80%) is tax.
  • macjonesnz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1In New Zealand we're already paying $1.50NZD per litre! (91 Octane) (Still cheaper than Starbucks and Coca Cola)

    (Thats $4.14 USD / Gal!, and we have our own refinery!)

    Add the other taxes, and the taxes on taxes (we add a sales tax on top of our already taxed gas).

    Glad I'm not paying $8 like the poster from Norway.

    1 gal = 3.78 litres (metric)
    1 NZD = 0.72 USD
    gas in nz
    $1.50NZD per litre
    $1.5 X 3.78L = 5.67NZD to buy 1 gallon of gas
    $5.76 X .72 = 4.14 USD / Gal.
  • CompanyMan, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1If gas prices raise to $4 per gallon that will be mean Canada's will be like 6 or 7 if that happens someone needs to seriously considering offing Mr. Bush and his stupid dogs
  • CiXeL, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5its interesting. every so many months my girlfriend and i would have an arguement about finances and then i finally made the connection that it was always occurring when the gas prices went up because it sucks away all your finances and makes it harder to pay debts, bills, etc.

    the europeans dont know how good they have it. or maybe they do, i dunno. but i am so tired of them bitching about how cheap our gas is. we're a very very large country by comparison and you need alot of gas to go anywhere. most of us drive a long way to work and dont have available mass transportation either. carpooling isnt even an option for me in people-unfriendly miami.

    many of us are working our asses off desperately trying to keep our jobs knowing theres someone in india who could snatch it away at any moment. i havent been on a vacation since 2003 and it looks like i wont have the ability to for the next couple years or until i can retrain and find a new career that actually pays a living wage.

    job security is dead in this country, bills are always going up, jobs are drying up and dropping in pay rates. the realestate market is getting ready to fall apart. i cant think that economic collapse is very far away.
    • leoedin, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2sounds like you live in a ***** country!
  • TheLD, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2We pay double that in the UK. Count yourselves lucky.

    TIP: SUVs use a lot more fuel than regular cars. Use this to save $$$ on your bill
    • welshie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I recently paid the equivalent of US$6.69 per us gallon for regular unleaded. This is nothing special.
      However, I've recently borrowed a new Honda Civic (not a hybrid), and that comes (like many new models of car for the european market) with a trip computer that shows both instantanous and average fuel consumption. My own Civic of similar spec but a 5 year old model doesn't have the trip computer.

      For my urban cycle driving, doing nothing special that I wouldn't normally do. I got a average consumption of 5.46l/100km (which in US terms would be 41 miles per us gallon). That's start-stop driving, but watching the instantanous consumption meter.

      The obvious trick is not to use your brakes unless necessary to avoid collision, to think and plan ahead. If you stop, you use a huge amount of fuel just getting the car up to 10mph again, not to mention wear on the brake pads. It's better to leave plenty of distance in front, and naturally slow down rather than use the brakes. What's more, it keeps the traffic moving freely.

      Haven't yet taken that car out on the open road, it's got a 6 speed gearbox, so that should help.

      So, $4 gas (or even $6 gas) doesn't change my summer travel plans. I'm still going to be driving, but I'll be doing it as efficiently as I can.
  • pihl, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1America sure has tough gas-prices... In Sweden, the price per gallon today would be around $6,47 (12 skr/liter = $1,71/liter, 1 US gallon = 3.7854118 liters)
  • xmuzik, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2dt40 made a really good point above , and it's true, people will buy a $90 pair of jeans , $30 Book, or a $50 video game and not think twice yet if gas goes from $2.69 to $2.79 a gallon , suddenly everyone starts having discussions like it's the endtime.
    • hukedonfonix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'd be willing to bet those kinds of people wouldn't give a ***** if the price of gas jumped to $10/gal. Fact is most people can't afford designer clothes or top of the line electronics. They have mouths to feed, bills, debt and mortgages to pay, and a number of other expenses to meet. For some the cost of gas will be the straw that brakes the camel's back.
  • GunbladeVIII, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Bull. People said this about $2 gas. Then $3 gas. Yet demand still keeps rising. Face it: people are going to stop buying food before they stop buying gas, no matter what the price is.
    • h00paj00, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4It's because if we don't buy it, China and India will.
  • ulmus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5The american problem is that the whole infrastructure is based on cheap fuel. When I lived in the states doing some research (Grand Rapids, MI) I realized I had to get a car, I could go nowhere without it. There were no downtown grocery stores, gyms, movie theaters, etc, only mcdonalds and burger king. Everything was at the mall or the supermarket.

    In Sweden, where I live now, I don't need a car. I commute by train every day, I use the bike in the city or I take the bus. If I had a car, I would use it at the most once a week.
    • h00paj00, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I honestly looked hard at taking the bus to work. I live 12 miles from the downtown part of my city where I worked, right near the bus station.

      Driving would take 25 to 40 minutes each way, (20 in good weather, 40 in a snow storm) plus a 5-10 minute walk from a parking garage.

      The bus? Well first I would have to walk or drive 3 miles to the nearest park and ride. Then wait up to 15 minutes for the next bus to show up. Take the bus for 40 minutes, switch buses, and wait up to 15 more minutes, 20 minutes later I would get to work. That could mean over 2 hours a day commuting by bus, or 50 to 80 minutes a day commuting by car.

      My car was paid for, and my expenses were for was gas, insurance, and the parking garage, and the bus would only save me about $50 a month *if* i ditched the car entirely to avoid the car insurance. Which would be impossible.
    • hukedonfonix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Most Europeans don't realize that living here without a car is the same as living without your right arm. It's simply impossible to do, you need to rely on the kindness of others to get you around. You're crippled, plain and simple. Use public transportation you say? What public transportation, most of it is a joke. If you don't live near a city it's almost impossible to catch a bus, and even then they have strict schedules. Some don't come by for hours at a time. Missed the morning bus? Well you're ***** out of luck buddy, because the next one won't be around for hours.

      My morning commute, depending on the traffic, consists of 15-30 minutes of driving to get to my destination. When i used to take the bus it took me over TWO ***** HOURS, one way! 10 minutes to walk to the bus stop, another 10 waiting for the bus, take a 45 minute ride downtown. Wait again 10-15 minutes for another bus, twiddle your thumbs for another 40 minutes.

      That's more than 4 hours wasted, each and every day. I used to get up extra early just so in case i missed one bus i wouldn't miss the next one. Europeans need to stop preaching on how good we have it compared to the rest of the world, we don't have the luxury of an advanced public transportation system to offset the $9/gallon cost of gas. Our public transportation consists of a ***** car and the reliance on cheap petroleum.
  • h00paj00, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2$3.15 and I alter my driving substantially, and it's a good excuse to tell the wife "It's too expensive to go shopping, with gas being high and all." I end up saving even MORE money! Hmmm on second thought... GO GAS PRICES GO!!!!
  • Shakermaker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4...and 75% of them are lying. NO matter what price gas goes up to people will not change their habits. A few more people may ride bikes or whatever, but for the most part they'll still be dependent on big oil. Like lambs to the slaughter.
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