Area responds to high gas prices
Wednesday, June 25, 2008; 6:29 PM
Gasoline seems to be on everyone's mind these days, with prices soaring to over $4 per gallon. Despite the increased costs, people still need to get around. According to the Energy Information Administration, demand for gasoline in the United States has declined from 9.591 million barrels per day to 9.251 million barrels per day. While there was a slight increase in demand at the end of May, it has been declining steadily since that time.

People in the New River Valley and Virginia Tech students have been altering their lifestyles in order to adjust to the higher costs. Walking around on campus, one can see that the bicycle racks are full, many people are walking and there are some interesting smaller vehicles making an appearance.

Motor scooters have become an increasingly popular form of transportation. They can keep up with traffic and get much better gas mileage.

"This thing gets over 150 miles on a tank, and it only holds 1.6 gallons." said local resident DJ Neace. "It just makes the most sense for me, and I look really cool."

Duncan Honda Motorsports confirms what the bike racks suggest -- that the demand for these scooters has gone up dramatically in recent months.

"I can't even keep them on the floor," said Daniel Kepple of Duncan Honda Motorsports. "Everybody wants one."

Other residents who live farther away have tried alternative transportation methods. Michael Blackwell, Assistant Director of University Honors lives 37 miles away. He has been trying to organize a carpool group since gas was $2.50 per gallon and hasn't had a lot of luck.

"It's a little frustrating. You'd think people would want to save a lot of money," Blackwell said.

The Blacksburg Transit has also seen increases in ridership.

"Ridership has increased for both Smart Way and Blacksburg Transit during 2008. Blacksburg Transit ridership increased by 7.8 percent when comparing the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2007; this increase mirrors the national average percentage increase for transit ridership," said Ken Tucker, marketing manager of Blacksburg Transit.

The Office of Alternative Transportation has promoted several other options for faculty and staff. The "GoLoco" service helps people to quickly arrange ride sharing between friends, neighbors and colleagues according to its Web site. It also arranges the payments between the passengers and drivers.

The office also promotes carpool parking passes. It gives those with carpool passes the closest thing to reserved parking on campus. In addition, parking services makes available "Bike, Bus and Walk" passes. Those with the passes receive 15 daily parking passes for the semester plus access to emergency home ride services which provides pass holders rides to their homes or vehicles in the case of an emergency.

While high gas prices have put a strain on some local citizens, they may not be entirely negative for the community. According to research from Charles Courtemanche of Washington University in St. Louis, for every dollar that real gas prices increase, obesity rates in the United States will decline by 16 percent. This may be happening because more people choose to walk or ride bicycles. In addition, people may be going to restaurants less frequently because a greater proportion of their income is going toward gasoline.

In addition to possible declines in obesity, this Memorial Day saw fewer accidents in many states. According to the Department of Transportation, people's driving levels are at historic lows. Those who are still driving may be driving a lot slower. Fueleconomy.gov, a U.S. government web site says that once drivers are in excess of 60 miles per hour, each additional 5 miles per hour is similar to paying an extra $ 0.20 per gallon. These considerations may be making our roadways safer.

You might be interested in... Related Topics: bicycles, transportation, gas
Posted by: Anonymous at 7/08/08 Well put, Kyle Minor. I've disagreed with many of your comments over the years, but this one is nice. The last sentence really drives home the justice of the matter to me. If you don't like the price, don't buy the gas. I'm riding my bicycle for a reason! Flag Abuse
Posted by: Kyle Minor at 7/03/08 What amuses me most about this is that we could have staved off this problem 10 years ago by increasing our own domestic crude oil output - but Clinton vetoed the proposal, saying that "we won't see any results for another 10 years." It's a shame that there really isn't a short term solution to the problem (if it really is one) of high gas prices - but what is more of a shame is how many people buy into the 'solutions' offered by the Presidential candidates. McCain doesn't really have much of a plan, so he clearly won't be able to infuse more energy into the marketplace. Obama's plan is to increase taxes on energy providers - a measure which will not only not provide more energy, but will actually make the cost to the consumer rise. In short, we're looking at a situation in which gas prices will likely be at the current rate or increase for the next few years - until more cost-effective technology is created. For the time being though, the gas doesn't belong to you - so you don't get to complain about how much it costs. Either buy it or don't, but you have no legitimate claim on a commodity you haven't paid for. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Jason T at 7/03/08 Are you referring to June 30th post that begins "What's so wrong with high gas prices...?" If so, the point made was that a "decent libertarian" would allow the market to run its course; the term wasn't used incorrectly. Of course, it's also possible that you were referring to some other post that has since been deleted by the overzealous CT censors. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Irony at 7/02/08 It was in quotes for a reason Jason. A previous post had used it incorrectly and i was mocking them on it. I was calling out the left side (liberal as you have so graciously mentioned) along with making a reference to the other post. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Jason T at 7/02/08 To Irony: I think you need to look up the definition of libertarian. I believe you mean liberal instead. Libertarians, regardless of which side of the aisle they are on, would not condone hindering free markets. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Anonymous at 7/01/08 The US taxpayer is footing the full bill for reconstruction of Iraq after 5 YEARS. They have the 2nd largest oil reserves (after Saudi Arabia) and a barrel is currently $143. What's wrong with this picture... Flag Abuse
Posted by: Irony at 7/01/08 Furthermore, one needs to consider what the global reserve of petroleum actually entails. The majority of it is still unreachable (most of it is under the frozen tundra of Russia). So 3% may not seem a lot but when one considers how much is actually drillable, that American 3% increases drastically. It is moronic to think that domestic drilling will not help, every little bit of independence from foreign oil will help. ‘McBain’ may not want drilling in Alaska but the Alaskans do. They keep threatening to sue Congress for environmental issues like the addition of the polar bear to the endangered species list or not being allowed to pump oil from their own state. Lastly, America only imports 4% of its oil from the Middle East. We do not profit from the oil being produced in Iraq that is all going towards rebuilding the country. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Irony at 7/01/08 The point is that it is not a free market. By forcing the prices to increase the leftist (or 'libertarian') side is creating an artificial market. They are limiting the supply while the demand keeps going up. These 'technological advancements' are beneficial but they are still expensive and are not completely developed; ethonal is causing 3rd world starvation, solar power is still inefficient, and green peace hates water dams and wind turbines because of the damage they cause the fish and birds. You can't limit coal, crude oil, and nuclear power and still claim that the market is driving the prices. It is not up to you to dictate how the market should be. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Anonymous at 7/01/08 Osama is against nuclear power. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Anonymous at 6/30/08 I'm all for increasing domestic oil production (drilling) but the U.S. has only an estimated 3% of global petroleum reserves. It would be better to concentrate on oil-shale production (huge supplies) and getting more nuclear reactors online (reduce oil demand). Flag Abuse
Posted by: Anonymous at 6/30/08 What's so wrong with high gas prices? If we lower them, more people will buy gas and only hurt our environment more, not to mention disincentivize technological advancement in renewable energy. I realize SOME people need lower gas prices to survive like those who have to travel 15 miles to work everyday to make 5.15 an hour, but there is no reason that most Americans need lower gas prices. Ride a bicycle. Walk. Carpool. Stop complaining so much. Both parties are for lowering gas prices to EVERYONE... a silly, selfish idea if you asked me. Let the market charge what it will, and don't remove the incentive for technological change. I wish there were a decent libertarian in this world... Flag Abuse
Posted by: Anonymous at 6/30/08 McBain doesn't want drilling in Alaska either and he'd leave it to the states to decide on drilling offshore. Yeah, the poor oil companies....maybe they'll make out better when we invade Iran. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Anonymous at 6/29/08 Exactly. Obama has said that he will not lift the ethanol tariff, will not pump domestic oil, that there is nothing wrong with higher gas prices, and that he will tax oil companies MORE on their profits. Do some research instead of jumping on the bandwagon you moronic liberals. If you do, you'll discover that Obama's "changes" for America are not so desirable. Voting is not a fashion statement, and it is your duty to be an informed voter... Flag Abuse
Posted by: Irony at 6/29/08 If these editors really did know anything about the english language or even politics they would find the irony in having an Obama shirt clad person pumping gas. Its Obama and the left winged congress that is preventing the american oil industry from pumping domestic oil. Flag Abuse
Posted by: Anonymous at 6/28/08 Yeah, but what would you expect from the left-leaning CT? If this is how you editors are going to run things as elections draw nearer, you can count losing a lot of readers and what little credibility you have left. Oh, and last time I checked, undersized B. Hussein Osama shirts and gelled hair are totally noncomformist, bro! Flag Abuse
Posted by: Jason T at 6/27/08 I admire the not-so-subtle "product placement" in the picture accompanying this article, but I'm still not buying Obama in '08. Flag Abuse






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