For a country that popularized the motorized transportation field, and that’s had a multi-generational love affair with the car, saying that Americans are driving less is indication of a serious problem.

According to U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters

"We have seen the longest decline in vehicular miles traveled since we started collecting this data,"

The high price of gas has gone on long enough and has stayed high enough that it’s starting to effect the driving public. That’s an excellent thing,.. sort of.

With gas prices hovering around $4.00 per gallon, and the ripple effects of this heightened price moving through the rest of the industry (food costs going up, transportation costs skyrocketing, fuel/energy costs increasing for both business and residential usage) it’s finally made it to the tipping point where the everyday American makes real changes in their daily habits.

First, the Good News

This is GREAT news for a number of reasons.

Environment – With 40 Billion less miles traveled by American motorists in the first four months of the year, that adds up to a distinct drop in carbon emissions from those vehicles. Less emissions equals cleaner air. 

Sustainable Resources – As the price of oil tops $120-130 per barrel and stays there businesses have a profitable reason to research alternative sources of fuel. With previous oil prices around half that a year ago, no business would sink the billions and billions of dollars into the necessary research to find the next fuel source. With the price where it’s at, and with no indication of it dropping, businesses can invest in even formerly unprofitable lines of development and research, and work towards a viable alternative.

Even today infant industries such as Biodiesel and Ethanol have taken off because of the higher price in gas. I’ve heard news stories about different vehicles; GM talking about a fully electric car by 2010, others wanting to release cars that run on natural gas, or hydrogen. And even the fuel-cell discussion has started again, despite high battery costs and the relatively low efficiencies of current technologies.

Strategic Independence – With the United States getting a significant percentage of it’s oil from overseas sources, there is always the specter of threat that a foreign power (Venezuela, Iran, Russia, etc) might use oil as a weapon against the U.S. at some time in the future. I’m not so keen on wandering the U.S. Southwest, Mad Max -like looking for my next meal and tank of gas. Guaranteeing a source of fuel, of WHATEVER type, is important for U.S. and world stability and safety.

Now the Bad News

The only problem with this picture is that it should have started 20-30 years ago, at least. While it should not come as a shock to anyone about the price of oil, the recent huge increase in the price has brought the importance of oil back into the public eye. We know that there is only a finite amount of oil available on the entire planet, and the rate of demand and consumption has continued to increase. China, India and other quickly developing nations will need at least an order of magnitude more oil to fuel their economic expansions in the next few decades, not to mention the existing demand.

This is why Americans cutting back on driving is starting to be a ‘bad thing’.

Tax Decreases – The taxes that are collected at the pump go to maintaining the roads and highways of the nation. And with less people driving, and less gas being purchased those revenues are going to be way down. That along with the fact that overall spending for road improvements, highway expansions/repairs and bridge/overpass maintenance has been decreasing in the last decade or so, adds up to a huge shortfall in necessary funds to maintain the roads.

Food Shortages – As American farmers have shifted to growing Ethanol-friendly crops, the world supply of corn and grain has seen a measurable decrease. This has caused prices for food products based on corn and  feed for livestock to increase dramatically. Again, the ripple effect is being felt through higher overall food prices. 

Public Transportation – As more Americans leave their cars behind, they take public transportation. This is bringing a strain on a system that has never been particularly robust to begin with. American public transportation is a pale shade of what other national transportation systems look like. The European public train system is a huge, efficient system compared to the American public transportation system.

Additionally many public systems have been unable to increase their prices for riders because of statutes and laws limiting their fare increases. Since they have to pay an increased price for fuel just like everyone else, this puts a strain on them as well. The extra money has to come from somewhere.

Car Purchases – With the huge jump in gas prices, it’s not surprising that Americans have stopped buying the gas-guzzling SUV’s and started buying gas efficient cars. The problem is, it’s a virtually overnight change in buying patterns. This means that the major car companies have been caught, with large supplies of vehicles they can’t even give away, while trying to scramble to re-tool a number of plants to produce smaller, more gas efficient vehicles. Both problems are resulting in billions of dollars in losses for the auto industry. And those losses are passed on to the consumer eventually (Layoffs, increased car prices, etc).

No Pain, No Gain

It’s not going to be an easy road until gas prices level off and stabilize. Adding to the matter is the soft economy, and the picture isn’t going to be pretty. But in the long run, developing alternative sources of fuel is a good thing for many reasons.

With more research going into alternative fuels, people concentrating on saving energy and traveling less, the BIGGEST win is that people are taking this seriously. When we Americans actually pay attention to a problem, that problem usually gets solved quickly. The bigger the problem, the harder it is to get people to address it. Now that we’re staring wide-eyed at the gas prices as they climb out of sight, I believe we’re waking up to the idea that ’something needs to be done’.

What are YOU doing to help the situation? Leave us your comments and let us know how you’re changing your daily habits because of high gas prices.