Day: 2015-11-02

US Retail Gasoline Price | The End of Traffic and the Future of Transport

| David Levinson
The price of fuel increased sharply in the run-up to the Great Recession, as shown in Figure 3.8; this certainly discouraged car travel. Interestingly, it also reduced car crashes by more than the reduction in distance traveled, which the research team attributed to worse than average drivers (especially the young) being more likely to be priced off the road. How much less travel is there because of increases in the price of gasoline? For every 100% increase in the price of gas, there is a 5% decrease in gasoline consumption (which correlates to driving in the short run, in the long run there is also a shift in vehicle fuel economy, and the elasticity is higher). From Levinson and Krizek (2015) The End of Traffic and the Future of Transport. http://davidlevinson.org/the-end-of-traffic-and-the-future-of-transport/ Figure 3.8 Source: US Energy Information Administration http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/.
The price of fuel increased sharply in the run-up to the Great Recession, as shown in Figure 3.8; this certainly discouraged car travel. Interestingly, it also reduced car crashes by more than the reduction in distance traveled, which the research team attributed to worse than average drivers (especially the young) being more likely to be priced off the road.
How much less travel is there because of increases in the price of gasoline? For every 100% increase in the price of gas, there is a 5% decrease in gasoline consumption (which correlates to driving in the short run, in the long run there is also a shift in vehicle fuel economy, and the elasticity is higher).
From Levinson and Krizek (2015) The End of Traffic and the Future of Transport. 
Figure 3.8 Source: US Energy Information Administration.