A curious note. I just got back from 10 days in Los Angeles on a mostly-business junket. Most astounding was the lack of the expected, awful traffic jams at all times on their huge highway system. Weekday or weekends, it was a true pleasure to drive the roads, 'cause of the lack of traffic.

I've noticed the same lack of congestion even in my smallish town in South Carolina, and can only attribute it to current fuel prices. I'd like to think that perhaps we're finally starting to: Eliminate unnecessary driving; consolidate errands using an actual plan rather than making wasteful "onesy & twosy" trips; regard driving as a privilege instead of some (your God here)-given right.

Think of it of Darwinism for the Driving Public. On the one hand, it was awesome to get around so easily in the madness that is L.A., but it hurts to know that so many are really feeling the crunch.

Regards,
TG

TG,
I haven't noticed much of a difference in my North Texas commute but I travel at slightly off times. My wife has remarked that she has noticed a definite decrease in daytime traffic. There has been a large increase in the use of the DART rail system around Dallas, unfortunately the total public transportation picture around here is still very poor. I too hope this is a signal of smart and efficient driving, let's hope it lasts if the price of gas ever come down.

I can't see any difference in the New England area, but then again, we're years behind everyone else. People here probably don't even know that gas went up......

I've noticed a bit less traffic here in NYC. It might just be because its summertime with vacations and no school and all but maybe (I hope) people are driving less.

And I never understood why anyone would drive into the city, with all the traffic and high parking fees and all, when you could just jump on mass transit and snooze your way to work in half the time and half the cost.

Of course, driving my Packard is a different story...

Oil demand in the U.S. only peaked last year at this time. It's likely that traffic on the highways peaked with it. Oil consumption has declined since last summer, but the decline since isn't as substantial as one might think.

We're currently consuming the same amount of oil per day that we did in the summer of 2003. I don't think traffic was all that different back then. I've noticed almost no difference here in Cincinnati.

I see less traffic on my 26 mile daily commute, but most of it's still flying by at 10-15 over the speed limit no matter the vehicle.

If I have the road to myself and the luxury of time, I generally loaf along around 50. I save fuel and I notice more of what's around me. In heavier traffic, 55-60 which is plenty fast on the rural two-lane I travel. 70-75 mph is ludicrous on that road, but some people don't accept that. Some travel even faster.

The same late model Pontiac GP blows by me about 80 every morning between 0545-0600, followed shortly by a big Dodge Ram diesel. Even hitting a big buck deer didn't slow that truck down. It got fixed, and right back to screaming turbo again. Three tickets in a month (OK, I called NCSHP ) didn't slow the Pontiac. Musta had a hella good lawyer...

i live in a small upstate NY town thats summer ecomony is tourism. Today is July 4th and its more dead than last weekend.

As you can imagine, the job market in the Detroit area is dismal. We'd noticed a significant decrease in traffic long before gas prices went up.

We, unfortunately, no longer have a rush hour.

We live near a traffic choke point that hasn't been choking much lately. Even rush hour traffic there seems to have been getting lighter and lighter this summer.

My wife commutes 22 miles each way to and from work 4 days a week and has been commenting a lot about how light traffic is.

She works near downtown Minneapolis, very near the Metrodome (MN Twins baseball, etc), and has noticed how uncrowded the parking lots in the area appear to be, even on day game days.

On the other hand, the park-and-ride lots around here are a lot fuller during the day.

That's because of all the people having a "staycation" this week. I tried to take my daughter to the Cincinnati Zoo this week. The lot was full, there wasn't an open street parking space within 3 blocks, and 30-35 cars were waiting in line at the lot entrance for people to leave. The traffic was a huge mess!

I saw 2 people leave (not counting the the people like me who saw the crowd and didn't go in). Like me they were probably members who can come down any day and didn't want to put up with a crowd like that. We went home.

It was 11:00 AM on Tuesday morning.

Bill and I stayed at home all day today. We have always tried to run as many errands as possible, and in a logical order if possible to cut down on fuel usage, when we go out. We have separate lists of "to do" items based on which direction we are heading that day, if we go out at all.

if thats true many businesses here will be closing up.

Here in Wilmington NC, traffic seems to be as busy as ever. We are a tourist destination and they are still coming. Maybe it is the nearby beaches. My son works at a hotel and tells me that last night (July 4th) there were no rooms available anywhere in town. Those who did not have a reservation were being directed to a small town 50 miles inland where they still had some rooms.

I'm 85 miles east of New York City, and today the traffic was worse than I've ever seen it.

Go figure Steve,

Everyone's on their way to Jones Beach or the Hamptons! BTW, what became of the Inn at Shelter Island?
I think I read somewhere that the family was packing it in...

TG

Jones Beach is 60 miles west of here, and the Hamptons are on the other fork. Shelter Island is still the great un-touched. The Inn is probably under a different name. Not much has changed there.

Traffic here in Atlanta is still as bad as it has been; a matter of fact I think it is worse. Traffic on the ever widening interstates still requires you to come to a stop or creep along at 2 or 3 miles an hour each time you go out in the mess. If you are going on a juant of 10 miles or more you will encounter at least two if not three tie ups.

Why? If they are providing a useful(and used) service they will bear out Dawin's Theory . Otherwise, they will fold(survival of the fittest)...without reference to the economy.

Ed

In terms of less traffic due to fuel prices here is a comment on boat traffic. Was at on a pier today at one of the most popular spots for boaters in CT around dusk. Granted, this was later in the day on an off day BUT other than one fishing boat there was not a soul on the water on a holiday weekend - very weird. Most years you cannot count them all. Conditions are probably now impacting people at all income levels - maybe what it takes for something to get done about prices??

Boat traffic on the Kanawha River here is WAY down. It used to be that on any given decent day you could see lots of boats and personal watercraft zooming up and down the river. Now the few that are out are anchored or drifting. Very few are moving very fast.

We drove across the big bridge to a neighboring town for dinner last evening. The river was about normal for boat traffic. The same three wave runners were still running wide open as on all previous weekends. The river tour boat had left the dock with a yard full of paid customer cars left behind in the parking lot. A few boats were fishing. The restaurant was full of paying customers, with the alcoholic beverages flowing at the usual brisk pace. And, of course, the usual pitiful singers were sure they would be the next American Idol to the dismay of the balance of the restaurant.

Money is still flowing on the rivers of Virginia!

Wayne

It's scary. I can actually move around again. Traffic is really starting to thin in a lot of places I've seen. Even at the Fourth of July fireworks, the traffic wasn't bad, and this particular display's for probably 8-10 towns.

Charlie Larkin

Something good happened in McKinney, Texas because more people stayed home. They had a car show on the 4th which they do every year. This year they hired an outside firm to promote it and were hoping to get as many as 150 cars. They wound up with almost 250! I brought out the Riviera, there were many really nice cars. Mostly hot rods, but I saw some great restored and original cars - Model A Fords, Tri-five Chevys, early Mustangs, a 56 Caddy convertible, 61 T-bird, 51 Nash, 65 Impala SS 427 Convertible. The best way to spend the 4th!