Posted on 11/15/2017 12:20:50 PM PST by Oatka
Edited on 11/15/2017 12:36:42 PM PST by Jim Robinson. [history]
If your recollection is correct, then the data at the link is not inflation adjusted.
It’s probably $1 a gallon now when you take out all the taxes.
BOOM!
That may be true, but not for the reason you state.
First, taxes have to be accounted for.
Second, how many miles per year did the average U.S. citizen drive in, say, 1930 - 1949, vs. 2000 - 2007?
OTOH, most vehicles are more efficient, now.
Per user-mile, and with taxes taken out, gasoline & diesel powered vehicles are, from the standpoint of fuel cost, a fairly good deal, at present.
This can also be seen by the shift to more trucking on the highways. I happened to be stuck in a major traffic tie-up on a rural Interstate, very recently. (A big tank truck burned, several miles in front of me.) With not a lot better to do, for almost 3 hours, I spent about 2 hours counting semi's and other large vehicles (like busses) vs. "passenger" and light duty vehicles. Almost 60% were in the "semi's" group. The truckers are close enough in cost that the other disadvantages of even "trailer trains" work against the most-of-the-route-by-rail options in many situations.
We also saw a period where a big local power plant was being supplied by coal for a while, by truck, despite it having it's own river and rail terminal on site. I was thoroughly amazed - and I bet the county road commission was swearing in its' members' sleep. The extra heavy-load traffic beat the heck out of a couple of our local 2-lane roads.
Second, how many miles per year did the average U.S. citizen drive in, say, 1930 - 1949, vs. 2000 - 2007?"
Hmmm...Excellent food for thought...{:-)
Interesting anyone knows about it here................
message me when it’s back to a $1 a gallon like it was during W’s term, since we are in the biggest boom in world history.............................. Yeah, right, message me when its 22.9 cents a gallon that I put in my dad’s 53 Dodge.
that data was the “average” across Texas. Anyone familiar with Texas gas prices knows the price can vary as much as 20 cents between the large cities and small towns (small towns usually being MUCH cheaper)
The same is true today, no? It certainly is around here. The overall slope of the graph is what matters, and I would submit that outside of a few local oddities, it IS basically correct in most locations. I also think your memory is correct and the graph is not inflation corrected: Take out increases due to taxes and inflation, and gasoline has actually become a little cheaper over the long run. Then add the increased efficiency of modern vehicles*, and per mile per user, travel’s fuel cost has become cheaper yet.
I’d also point out that you are somewhat cherry picking the data — 2002 was somewhat anomalous, for example.
*There are always exceptions: My old ‘84 1.3 CRX could beat almost any of today’s production internal combustion engine vehicles’ gas mileage. But it could not be built today as it was then, due to safety regs.
I sure would like to see a graphic of miles driven per citizen, on average, over the past 50 years or so...
You could both start threads with sources about this because “they” do pay attention to what we yak about. One thing all voters (except great urbanites) have to do is buy gas. Hmmm. Suburbanites and those in rural areas are being targeted with taxes?
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