Are gas costs really strangling travel? No, and here’s why
There are lots of articles suggesting that travel habits are changing because of the high cost of gas. Some are even suggesting that our suburbs are going to become crumbling wastelands because of $4-a-gallon gasoline. I don’t think so.
Will behaviors change? Of course they will. But will it be so drastic to turn Torrance, Calif., into a slum or lead to the demise of Columbia, Md.? Somehow, I think these stories are written to shock the naive and sell papers. Granted, if current conditions prevail, these doomsday scenarios might come true, however, when reality shifts new solutions are created.
Just as $8-a-gallon gas prices in Europe haven’t shut down the auto industry in Germany or France, $4-a-gallon gasoline here at home will have some effects. But it won’t lead to the demise of the suburbs and the auto industry. SUVs may disappear or be outfitted with hybrid engines and better restaurants might start to sprout in suburban neighborhoods, but our way of life is not on the verge of collapse.
The infrastructure of schools, shopping centers and libraries are here to stay as are the local residents who use them. What will change over time is a new focus on mass transit, shifts in working hours, four-day work weeks and a more people-friendly system of scheduling buses and regional trains.
I’ll bet local tourism will flourish as airfares rise. Regional hotels and B&Bs will offer deals that will provide enough savings to pay for gas. Resort hotels that have recently been making excellent profits will scale back their room charges through creative packaging with airfares. Look for more and more deals within a couple of hour’s drive of major cities. Chances are, there is plenty to see closer to home that previously had not been considered.
Even when today’s $8-a-gallon gasoline is used to fuel a rental car in Europe, traveling by car is a better deal financially and from a travel flexibility point of view than taking that continent’s excellent and well developed rail network.
Travel may change a bit, but travel by car is here to stay and more than likely grow in the coming years.
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4 Responses to “Are gas costs really strangling travel? No, and here’s why”
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I have not seen any premonitions of the demise of suburbia and I agree with a lot of this post.
However, AAA just released a study (trying to find the link) yesterday showing that the cost of fuel is changing the habits of vacationers and is keeping them not only off the planes, but a lot closer to home this summer.
MY local town has a promotion “Trips on a Tankful” and they have spent a lot of money trying to lure tourists and while still new, it is not working as hoped.
I look into the harbour and when usually there are boats jamming the moorings, there are buoys to be had on a Saturday night. I found a free Main Street parking space last night, and the garages are not full as in years past.
I’m a UK based travel blogger and we Brits are feeling the effects of ever increasing fuel prices for our cars. It’s not just gas prices increasing, it’s food and power for our homes as well as higher mortgage rates all eroding our disposable income. Indications are that the Brits are still taking vacations but cutting back on the overall budget eg staying on home shores.
I’m thinking twice before we make leisure trips in our car, although I have a diesel super mini which achieves more than 60 miles to the gallon.
I agree that renting a car, especially if you have more than 2 occupants is still good value for money for the comfort and flexibility that you gain. We rented a car in Italy recently, a super mini and it cost us around 100 euros in gas for a one week tour of the Umbria region.
Torrance will be a slum, albeit one with 500,000 3 bedroom 1.5 bath homes with 1200 sqft.. Add insult to injury, one of Torrance’s big tax bases is a Exxon Mobil refinery in town. Luckily there is a bus you can take to the beach if it runs on time. We take the train to our jobs near the airport, ride the bus when we can and only use the car for essentials.
I agree that the high cost of gas is making most of us make some changes in our lifestyle, but the doomsday scenarios are, as Charlie said, written to shock the naive and sell papers.
The best way to handle this is to find alternatives to oil so that the fat cats at the top of the oil industry find themselves with a glut as well as a serious loss in their profits.
Besides that, it will probably be better for our health and the environment.