Americans love to drive. We love the freedom of being able to go almost anywhere at anytime on our own. The Valvoline TM slogan might as well be applied to the general public -- "Cars, we know ‘em, we love ‘em." Is there a limit to how much we will pay at the pumps to enjoy this freedom?
Apparently not.
Gas prices have risen about 41 cents per gallon since this same time last year. Yet, consumers continue driving wherever they want to go. And when their gas tanks are nearing empty, they fill up at these high prices, and continue driving.
Sure, most people complain about the high gas prices every time they stop at the gas station. But they still fill up. Why?
Because we love the freedom that driving gives us. And we will pay the extra money for this freedom, even if we do not want to.
At first glance it does not look like we car-crazy Americans can do anything about this. After scratching beneath the surface, however, there are a few things that can be done to avoid driving our own vehicles as much as we do. However, these suggestions are not considerably less expensive.
First, there is always public transportation. They offer continuous service all day long, and have recently expanded services to new areas.
By using public transportation you do not have to worry about the next time you have to fill up your tank; you do not have to worry about scraping and brushing off your car in the winter; and you can relax on your way to your destination because someone else is driving.
But, public transportation may not have a route to where you want to go. If their is, it most likely will take three to four times as long as driving because many bus routes go through downtown before heading to their final destination.
Relying on public transoprtation typically will cost more per week than driving a mid-size car approximately 25 miles per day and filling up once a week. At this point drivers should continue using their cars.
The next choice to try to avoid high gas prices is to walk or ride a bike to close destinations. This saves a little gas, and is also a great form of exercise.
This is not always a viable option, especially when you are trying to transport things (such as grocery bags; taking food dishes to a neighbor for a party; going down to the park with a lot of sports equipment; etc...). In these cases the convenience of a car beats trying to save a little gas.
There is the option of car-pooling with people who are going to the same place, or same general area that you are.
But it might be difficult to find people to car-pool with. On the other hand there might be enough people to car pool, but the person with the biggest, least fuel efficient vehicle will have to drive to accommodate everyone comfortably. The passengers in this car pool will still be paying these high gas prices so the driver of the gas-guzzling car can get gas.
An option that more people will find agreeable is to try and run as many errands in one trip, instead of going to one store, going home for a little while, and going to a second store.
Jay Leno, of the Tonight Show, said it best in a monologue a few weeks ago: "Why is it that here in L.A. people complain about paying $2.10 for a gallon of gas, but they don't mind paying $4.85 for 8 ounces of cappuccino?!"
In the end we will still drive, and still complain every time our gas tank needs to be filled.
