High Fuel Costs Results: Less Driving & Cleaner Air

by Larry Lagarde

If you thought the roads have been less crowded lately, you're right. High fuel costs are causing drivers to think twice before hitting the pavement. It's also leading to cleaner air.

Two months ago, the US. Dept. of Transportation reported that sky high fuel costs have caused the sharpest decline of driving in the USA in history. Scientists estimate that the drop in driving has kept an estimated 9 million metric tons of greenhouse gases from choking the air in the first quarter of 2008 alone. With gas prices really hitting the stratosphere in the 2nd quarter, the drop in greenhouse gas emissions should be even greater now.

The decrease in driving has also caused oil supplies in the USA to build up. Over the last few days, this has led to declining crude prices. While some experts predict that this will dampen inflationary pressure on consumer goods, oil still costs $129. Unless we see oil drop below $100/barrel, there's still a lot of pressure on manufacturers to keep increasing their costs.

For short trips of 5 miles or less, riding a bicycle can be a great option. Given the time it takes to get in the car, buckle up, start the engine, drive, find a parking space, etc, you can even arrive faster by bike than by car - especially with a bike that folds.

Folding Bike Showdown
Now that it's easier to breathe outside ;-) this seemed like a good time to see which would be the best folding bike for trips under 5 miles. Since light weight is a key factor for folding bikes, I'm doing a showdown between 4 of the lightest production model folding bikes on the market - the CarryMe, E-Z Pack, Strida 5 & Kent Superlite 1. Stay tuned for some fun in the sun as I ride each along the same course and compare the outcomes.

By the way, if you're into statistics, monthly US traffic volume data dating as far back as 1970 can be found on the DOT website at...
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/tvtw/tvtpage.htm