Are you driving your car MORE or LESS than last year?

[Angela Shelley]

How have your driving habits changed since gas has become so expensive?

Thanks!

[LSK]

1. I started changing my habits when it hit $3 after Katrina

I don't get why this is all of the sudden a big shock to everyone.

:shrug:

[Angela Shelley]

10. Late bloomers?

[samplegirl]

2. Way way less

even if you have your tank full you don't have the money to do things.

[Angela Shelley]

3. God Bless the Internet!

making it possible to see the world from the privacy of your own home.

:-)

[AlCzervik]

4. when school is in session i have no choice about how much i drive but since school

is out i haven't driven much with the exception of a trip to Monterey and one to SF.

[uppityperson]

5. Minimal public transport in my ruralish area. Driving less, staying home more though for sure.

Much more combining trips but yes, staying home more.

[Morning Dew]

6. I drive about 45,000 miles per year

for work.

I drive the same as always with my personal car - less than 3k miles / year .

[MindPilot]

7. I've pretty much minimized my driving ever since the 70's

Back and forth to work--no good alternative to that--and occasionally I drag out the old beater truck to take the dogs to the park or make a Costco run.

Fortunately I live in a neighborhood where I can walk to almost everything else.

About the only thing I'm doing differently is spending more time on the right side of the freeway.

[Quantess]

8. I drive less. And I use fuel-efficient driving tricks.

Like, trying to keep the momentum without too much variance of acceleration. No more zooming up to red lights. In fact, I try to anticipate the timing of the lights so that I never have to come to a full stop. I try to avoid braking, and instead, take the foot off the gas a little sooner.

[marmar]

9. Definitely Less.....

On the plus side, I'm redisovering the simple pleasures of just being at home and enjoying home. I was always one of those people who had to be out and about - home was just a place to sleep. ..... But the exorbitant cost of leisure driving is causing me to rediscover all the great things you can do around the old homestead.

[tammywammy]

11. I drive the same

Well, even a tad more, because I took a trip down to Austin that I don't usually take.

I put around 12,000 miles on each year.

[wryter2000]

12. The same

I've always driven the minimum. To work and back. Grocery shopping. To one meeting a month. I only do about 6,000 miles a year, and my car gets good mileage.

[MuseRider]

13. Much much less.

Last year I was filling my 35 gallon diesel tank once a week. Now I have moved to the farm and that is where I do most everything. We are so far from anything that we don't walk or ride bikes but we consolidate our trips and take his more fuel efficient car.

I have gone from once a week to once every month to 6 weeks. It is wonderful.

[tech3149]

14. I have driven less since 2002

I chose to be unemployed at that time because of my distaste for the current corporate mentality. I chose my apartment because I could get anything I needed within a two mile radius and my parents were only 15 miles away. When the gas prices spiked, I just consolidated my trips to take care of as many needs as possible in fewer trips. This spring I moved back to my 87 y/o parents place but can still get most things within a two mile radius. The good part is I can walk to the few places I still spend money.

[iamahaingttta]

15. Car? What car?

We don't need no stinkin' car!

I'm so glad I live in a place where a car is a liability rather than a necessity.
New York City... I can get anywhere I need to go on foot, or public transportation.
I probably walk more than 20 average Americans combined, and am quite healthy for it.
I can get around for a month for what most people pay for a single tank of gas.
I haven't owned a car in over 20 years. Rent one once in a while, maybe once a year.

Sorry...

[old mark]

16. I retired in May of '07

so I drive less because I don't go to work, but I also drive less otherwise. We kind of organise our trips so we can get several things done at one time, and we got our "regular gas" car fixed so we can use it on longer trips.

mark

[Captain Hilts]

17. OTHER: I drive MORE out of NECESSITY. nt

[Javaman]

18. Roads? Where I go, I don't need roads! nt

[RebelOne]

19. My driving habits have not changed.

I drive about 26 miles roundtrip to work and back as public transportation is not an option where I live. On the weekend, I drive to one of two grocery stores that are practically around the corner. And any other shopping (Target, Kohl's, Old Navy, shoe stores, Lowe's) is conveniently located within a 2-mile radius of my house.

[taterguy]

20. Changed jobs, my commute is 25 percent longer

It's a good thing I don't use a car to get to work.

[rucky]

21. I work at home.

and I voted for immunity for telecommuters.

[LWolf]

22. I drive less, and I am not happy about that.

Why? Because I was already a thrifty driver. I already made sure that all business was taken care of on the way to and from work, with no extra trips to the grocery store, gas station, or even the damned doctor.

So the only place I had to cut was in recreational driving. Not that I did that much; I generally do my best to stay home on weekends.

That means that I don't visit my mom, who lives 50 miles away, nearly as often. Once every couple of months, instead of a couple of times a month.

I don't get together with friends, who all live in town, or beyond the other side of town.

That means that I won't drive across the cascades this summer, while I'm on summer break, to spend time on the coast, in Ashland, or in Portland.

As a matter of fact, I'm not even driving into town once a week for the free summer "concerts on the green" at the park.

I'm not driving into town to take in a movie. I'm not driving to a local trail head to take advantage of the beautiful areas to hike. I'm not driving to the local mountains to camp, or to the local river to spend the day picnicking.

My mom wants to meet me in the town halfway between us this Sunday for a summer festival. I didn't turn her down. I didn't tell her that the gas for that trip will come out of my grocery money this week. It's a good thing I like peanut butter.