http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080930/...ThHjkEzGeyBhIF



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Motorists on U.S. roads drove less for the ninth-straight month in July when retail gasoline prices peaked at more than $4 per gallon, the government reported on Tuesday.

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Travel on all roads fell 3.6 percent or nearly 10 billion vehicle miles compared with the same period last year, according to the latest figures provided by the Transportation Department.

The decline was less than the drop of 5 percent, or 12.2 billion miles, reported by the agency for June.

Average gasoline prices at the end of September are nearly 50 cents lower at $3.63 per gallon compared with July, according to figures released on Monday by the Energy Department.

The summer months experienced the most precipitous decline in U.S. petroleum demand in 26 years due to record high gasoline prices and a sluggish economy. The decline was the steepest since the 1970s, which also occurred during a period of economic and energy turmoil.

Monthly declines have been the sharpest in rural areas, where people generally drive more and spend more on gasoline.

The Transportation Department collects highway data from more than 4,000 automatic traffic recorders operated around the clock by state agencies.

Less driving, combined with the consumer shift toward more fuel efficient vehicles this year due to high fuel, also created a severe shortage in federal gasoline tax receipts dedicated to highway construction spending.

Congress plugged an $8 billion gap in the government trust account that funds U.S. highway projects earlier this month after transportation planners warned it was close to running out of money.

 

i hardly see work done on highways.... at least super slow

drive less is good though, i think

 

I am one of those motorists! I enjoy driving and never thought that I would see the day I give up driving and take public transit to work.

We drive a lot and average about $750-800/mo on gas, $80/mo on parking not including wear and tear on the vehicles just to fight my way thru traffic each day. WFT?.. So I decided to try public transit. At first, it was a little hard to get use to not having a car and the freedom going & leaving whenever I want. But it's now history. Not only that I save money and contribute less to the oil companies that earn billions in profit, I don't have to worry about driving and fighting my way to work. Now I only drive about 6 miles to the park & ride, get on the light rail, have coffee and read the papers. It then drops me off right in front of the building where I work. Everything works out great!!! and I love it.

 

As far as I'm concerned, up to an extent, the less traffic on the roads, the better. It uses less oil, causes less pollution, makes parking easier, generally means fewer accidents, causes less wear and tear on the roads (a major nationwide problem, BTW), and makes driving easier for all of us when we DO get in our cars.

For years our roads, especially around major cities, have been grossly overcrowded......nowhere more so than the SoCal area and the Washington-Baltimore area where I live. Expensive gas, hard as it has been on some people, has, in other ways, had clear benefits.

 

Wooaaahhh!!!! Less Traffic!!!

 

its true, here in San Diego I have never seen such light traffic, its been great.

 

Well, this month I've used less than 2 tanks of gas in my 2gs4... filled on the 4th? then again last week, and I still have over half a tank left... to I only used 1.5 tanks. This is the most economical month of my life.