Gas prices affecting driving habits

[Eric]

Underscored by a slip in Memorial Day travel, the Department of Transportation says that drivers contending with unprecedented gas prices traveled 11 billion fewer miles in March than they did a year ago, the steepest year-over-year decrease on record, going back to 1942.

[swamprat]

That is no surprise. The days of the Brady Bunch pack em all in the family truckster cross country trip are gone. They ended in 2004, the last year that gas was under 2 bucks. Now, crossing state lines is questionable.

[Eric]

That is no surprise. The days of the Brady Bunch pack em all in the family truckster cross country trip are gone. They ended in 2004, the last year that gas was under 2 bucks. Now, crossing state lines is questionable.

Indeed.

When I got out of college in the late '80s, first thing I did was drive out West. A just-graduated college kid could afford the gas for a cross-country trek. In fact, driving out west was considered the "cheap" way to go.

Today, it's a non-starter. It could cost you $1,000 or more to drive from Va. to Ca. Then another $1,000 or more back... that's harsh on people with real jobs; everyone but the pretty well-off.

[chiph]

Assuming 24mpg, and 3500 miles, a cross-country trip should cost you in the mid 600's.
Which is still a lot of money.

That used to be the cost to fly coast-to-coast, but now one-way from RDU to SFO is as cheap as $140 on Delta.

Chip H.

[Eric]

Assuming 24mpg, and 3500 miles, a cross-country trip should cost you in the mid 600's.
Which is still a lot of money.

That used to be the cost to fly coast-to-coast, but now one-way from RDU to SFO is as cheap as $140 on Delta.

Chip H.

Yes - if you have an economy-type car that can get an average of 24 mpg. But factor in a large vehicle (let alone an SUV) or lots of stop and go-type driving (commonplace in our gridlocked country) and the tab goes up.

I typically spend $100 just going up to DC and back from Roanoke - which is about a 500 mile roundtrip....

[chiph]

I assumed interstate-only driving (fewest backups), and didn't include the cost of meals & hotels.

My 4WD CR-V is still getting 24mpg (which will shortly drop, as the job situation is changing), and a friend's 2WD 2008 CR-V recently got 27mpg on a trip, despite having a 20% larger motor (2.4 liter vs 2.0 in mine.

Chip H.