Miles Traveled by US Drivers Down for 9th Straight Month
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada 
on 10. 1.08
Keeping the Car Parked
A few months ago we reported that "US citizens drove 9.6 billion fewer miles in May 2008 than in May 2007, or 3.7% less." The trend seems to be holding as Reuters reported a 5% drop in June and a 3.6% year-over-year decline in miles traveled on all roads in July.
That makes it the 9th straight month of decline for miles traveled in the US, something that hasn't happened in decades, and petroleum demand hasn't been that low since 1982. Unsurprisingly, high gas prices and a weakening economy get the blame.
What This Means
"The decline means Americans are consuming less fuel and emitting less CO2 (tailpipe emissions), which is a positive development," Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said in an interview with Reuters. "But it is a challenge to how we fund transportation today."
Indeed, a lot of road and rail projects are financed by taxes on gasolines, so if consumption drops, there's less money to go around. On the upside, the use of public transit is up significantly and sales of fuel efficient cars are higher than they've been in decades. Probably not enough to bring down CO2 emissions significantly, but it's better than nothing.
Via Reuters
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The California gas usage numbers for June are out and they are staggering...gasoline purchases dropped 7.2% year over year, diesel is down 9%. The diesel numbers are, I imagine, all due to the slowing economy here as there are very few diesel passenger cars. The gasoline, though, is mostly people driving less. Friends of mine that ride transit to work are reporting historically high ridership. I think we are at a tipping point for a fundamental change in the way Californians view transit and driving.
We still have a long way to go...Californians use 75% as much gas as the entire country of China!
In Hawaii, gasoline purchases are down 15% year over year, and tourism is down 18%. The latter is due as much to the economy as to rising ticket prices from rising oil prices, but it's still a big factor. The change is noticeable, as the roads are actually drivable during rush hour once again.
I sold my car 3 months ago and so far haven't had a problem without it. Luckily I live in a small town so the 5 block commute to work and the grocery store isn't an issue on my bike. Even getting a ride to the city for shopping is easy because nobody wants to drop $30 on gas to go by themselves.