Gas prices always rise before a holiday. They rise with the threat of a hurricane. They rise when someone sneezes. This article here notes that, while gas prices have risen 15% over the past few weeks and will continue to rise over the summer-they will never reach the $5 highs of 2008. That’s too bad.
How will we change consumer demand and driving habits with cheap gasoline? Americans will continue to want large, gas-guzzling vehicles. City planners will continue to design sprawled cities. People will not want to ride rail.
Last year, when gas prices were at their peak, we, here in Texas, had record numbers riding the rail. We had people asking for more rail. Now, we’re back to our old habits.
How quickly things change, yet stay the same.
This NYT article says that cheap gas and bargains means that consumers will be driving more than last year.
Do you think that America can make significant changes if gas is still cheap? This article here talks about increasing gas taxes in Texas. (Written by a conservative think tank.) They believe Texans already pay too much, and that money for roads and rail should come through a re-examination for waste in state and local transportation budgets.
