Driving miles down

U.S. car owners drove 1.4 billion fewer highway miles in April than they did in April 2007, the Department of Transportation said Wednesday. Americans have driven 20 billion fewer miles overall this year, the Transportation Department says. That marks the sixth consecutive monthly drop and coincides with record gas prices and an increase in transit ridership, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said. The chart below from the Federal Highways Administration shows a previous trend over the years of mileage traveled growing every year. This trend may change dramatically based on the high price of gas. What do you think?

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Irrational about gas?

I stopped by a nearb outdoor sporting goods supplier’s store yesterday to get my car outfitted to carry my sailboat and I began to speak with the owner. He pointed out that some folks are now towing their boats with a motorcycle instead of a van to save money. In fact companies are making boat trailers exactly for the reason of allowing motorcycle towing.

This same store owner at the store called Helisport added something he was doing about the high price of gas. He told me he had adapted his car engine to give him 60 miles a gallon. I was in a hurry and didn’t have time to get the details but his approach about the gas price got me to thinking about how other folks are dealing with the gas crisis.

I  learned today from CNN Money that folks in California were driving to Mexico to get cheaper gas even though if one considers lost time and the wear and tear on the car it didn’t make sense. Another story was told about how people are trading in their SUVs less than three years old even though SUV resale value is extremely low- another irrational gas decision.

On the CNN Money show today, CNN’s guest Daniele Arriele, behavioral ecomomist, spoke about irrational behavior on the part of consumers as it relates to money. He recently published a book called “Predictably Irrational“. (By the way, you can find an interview with Arriele from Amazon, by clicking here.

In thinking about how you are reacting about gas prices and how your friends have been acting, share some stories and tell me if you think the stories are rational or not.

See a related story from the Fayetteville NC observer where Arriele is interviewed about gas prices. In this article, Arrelle says he doesn’t see comsumers making major changes because of gas prices.