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Log inGas prices driving motorists off road, especially in Maine
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Gas prices driving motorists off road, especially in Maine
by Outspoken on Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:27 am
Gas prices driving motorists off road, especially in Maine
The state's traffic decline in June - 7 percent - was almost the sharpest in the nation.
Staff and wire reports
Portland Press Herald
With gas prices soaring, Americans drove 12.2 billion fewer miles in June than the same month a year earlier, and hardly anywhere was that more apparent than in Maine.
The state saw a 7 percent drop in June, the second-largest drop in the nation. The 4.7 percent decline nationally was the biggest monthly driving drop in a downward trend that began in November, the Federal Highway Administration said Wednesday.
"Clearly, more Americans chose to stay close to home ... than in previous years," said Transportation Secretary Mary Peters.
Some Maine data indicate that people have indeed been cutting back.
The Maine Turnpike Authority said the number of vehicles on that highway was down 4.1 percent in June from the same month a year earlier and down 2.7 percent in July. For the year, traffic is off 1.5 percent, turnpike authority spokesman Dan Paradee said.
He said growth in the number of vehicles on the road has been relatively flat over the past few years, but "it would be unusual for us to finish the year in the negative. It definitely is a different trend," he said.
Paradee said that the turnpike has seen significant decreases in commercial traffic and that the lower vehicle counts for June and July suggest a drop in tourists driving into the state.
At AAA Northern New England, there's one measure that suggests much less interest in driving this summer. The association said it had a nearly 25 percent decline in requests for Trip Tiks -- they provide travel routes for vacations and other trips -- in July compared to the same month last year.
From November through June, Americans drove 53.2 billion fewer miles than they did over the same eight-month period a year earlier, according to the highway agency's latest monthly report on driving. That's a larger decline than the 49.3 billion fewer miles driven by Americans over the entire decade of the 1970s, a period marked by oil embargoes and gas lines.
Travel Industry Association spokeswoman Cathy Keefe said the June driving decline "is not surprising, given the environment that we were in." But she was optimistic that the recent drop in gas prices to less than $4 a gallon in many parts of the country will have travelers on the road again.
"I think people have started to take the increase in gas prices somewhat more in stride," Keefe said.
The trade association is predicting only a 1.2 percent decline in all forms of business and leisure travel this year.
Much like Maine, Florida is another state where tourism traffic is heavy, and it also saw a big decrease in June: 6 percent.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=204621&ac=PHnws
The state's traffic decline in June - 7 percent - was almost the sharpest in the nation.
Staff and wire reports
Portland Press Herald
With gas prices soaring, Americans drove 12.2 billion fewer miles in June than the same month a year earlier, and hardly anywhere was that more apparent than in Maine.
The state saw a 7 percent drop in June, the second-largest drop in the nation. The 4.7 percent decline nationally was the biggest monthly driving drop in a downward trend that began in November, the Federal Highway Administration said Wednesday.
"Clearly, more Americans chose to stay close to home ... than in previous years," said Transportation Secretary Mary Peters.
Some Maine data indicate that people have indeed been cutting back.
The Maine Turnpike Authority said the number of vehicles on that highway was down 4.1 percent in June from the same month a year earlier and down 2.7 percent in July. For the year, traffic is off 1.5 percent, turnpike authority spokesman Dan Paradee said.
He said growth in the number of vehicles on the road has been relatively flat over the past few years, but "it would be unusual for us to finish the year in the negative. It definitely is a different trend," he said.
Paradee said that the turnpike has seen significant decreases in commercial traffic and that the lower vehicle counts for June and July suggest a drop in tourists driving into the state.
At AAA Northern New England, there's one measure that suggests much less interest in driving this summer. The association said it had a nearly 25 percent decline in requests for Trip Tiks -- they provide travel routes for vacations and other trips -- in July compared to the same month last year.
From November through June, Americans drove 53.2 billion fewer miles than they did over the same eight-month period a year earlier, according to the highway agency's latest monthly report on driving. That's a larger decline than the 49.3 billion fewer miles driven by Americans over the entire decade of the 1970s, a period marked by oil embargoes and gas lines.
Travel Industry Association spokeswoman Cathy Keefe said the June driving decline "is not surprising, given the environment that we were in." But she was optimistic that the recent drop in gas prices to less than $4 a gallon in many parts of the country will have travelers on the road again.
"I think people have started to take the increase in gas prices somewhat more in stride," Keefe said.
The trade association is predicting only a 1.2 percent decline in all forms of business and leisure travel this year.
Much like Maine, Florida is another state where tourism traffic is heavy, and it also saw a big decrease in June: 6 percent.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=204621&ac=PHnws
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Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
