gas prices

Many make the argument that current gas prices won't change behavior. The arguments are generally that people only respond to a fairly quick change and that people have no choice - they must drive.

I generally agree with these arguments. That said it is interesting to look at the real cost to a family budget. The average family drives about 22,000 miles a year. Much of this is short distance and stop and go driving where economy is much lower than what manufacturer claims.

So for 22,000 miles of driving and $3.00/gallon gas:

        $6600 10 mpg
        $3300 20 mpg
        $2200 30 mpg
        $1650 40 mpg
        $1320 50 mpg

A surprising number of SUVs get around 10 mpg in average use.

Even for a family that makes $100k a year the lower mileage numbers are a significant hit. Combine this with heating bills that could be twice that of last year and you have political dynamite. People probably won't conserve, but they'll be furious.

For a very small segment of the population the rationalization to buy a nice human powered vehicle is much better. The same goes for those looking to move to human powered transportation friendly communities.

Comments

[sara]

my bike works just fine. i don't have a car and don't plan to get in a situation where i need to own one. last year i had to rent one for three days, but that is much better than owning one.

[panasianbiz]

I stumbled across your blog while I was doing some online research. I don't believe that rising gas prices will dramatically influence the average person's driving, simply because this is an auto-dependent nation. People love their cars and their independence.