In case you missed it, gas prices jumped drastically over the last week or two. Locally I’m looking at $2.64 a gallon, which I think is right in line with the national average (although by definition that means that half of you out there have got it worse).
Knowing now what we saw last year, are you changing your summer plans? Are you expecting it to be better or worse than it was last year? Will you drive less? Car pool, take the train?
The good news, at least from what I heard this morning, is that the current prices are still no way near what they were at this time last year (though I haven’t found a comparison chart yet). I was afraid the exact opposite would happen, that this would become a regular thing and go up even higher.
The bad news is that there’s *no* reason for it. Prices are up entirely because investors are bidding up oil prices. There is no shortage.
For me personally, I’m starting to take the bike as much as I can. The first couple weeks I would pedal it home over lunch, for three reasons: not wanting to fight the going home traffic in the evening, not wanting to be exhausted at the end of the day, and wanting a healthy at-home lunch instead of takeout. The problem with this is that it totally wiped out any gains in the gas department, as I’d then have to drive my car to work at lunch (and home again, thus still having 1 complete round trip).
Well, I can bring lunch, that’s easy. And when I get out of work it’s still light out, so the traffic issue (where I was mostly worried about getting sideswiped in the dark) is a non-issue. As I ride more my tolerance for the ride increases, and I’ve even got enough energy to handle it at 5pm instead of noon. So now, at least on the good days, I don’t use the car at all.
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