Bike Blog

Why not ride your bicycle? Duh, it’s a no-brainer.

from the Buffalo News web site:

For some, gas prices are near braking point
By RYAN HAGGERTY and JAY REY
News Staff Reporters
8/31/2005

Take a summer with record gas prices. Add a devastating hurricane that disrupts petroleum output in the Gulf Coast.

Then mix them together in time for one of the busiest travel days of the year, and you have a perfect storm for motorists.

More than 34.5 million Americans are expected to hit the road for the Labor Day weekend, according to the AAA. But some area motorists, like Charles Hough, are sticking close to home this weekend.

Spiraling gas prices have kept the Erie Community College student from traveling across town, let alone taking a long road trip, he said.

“I need a loan just to get back and forth to school, because of the gas prices,” Hough said with a laugh. “I’m about to start riding my bicycle again.”

Hough is not the only person whose travel options have been limited.

The cost of regular unleaded gasoline in the Buffalo region was an average $2.62 per gallon Tuesday - 66 cents a gallon higher than what motorists paid at this time last year.

And with Hurricane Katrina shutting down oil platforms, refineries and pipelines along the Gulf Coast, analysts are bracing people for even higher gas prices.

“It’s killing me,” said Wendy Irene of Buffalo, who filled up her SUV at a downtown gas station Tuesday. “Today, I don’t have 50 bucks to fill it up, but tomorrow it will probably be up another dime. I’m going to fill it up today just to save a couple bucks tomorrow.”

She’s right.

Some analysts predict markets around the country could soon be paying $3 a gallon at the pump, although that’s still below the inflation-adjusted high of $3.09 per gallon set in March 1981.

“The hurricane is absolutely something that puts added pressure on prices,” said Sara Banaszak, a senior economist at the American Petroleum Institute in Washington, D.C.

A hurricane of Katrina’s force can do enormous damage to the platforms and pipelines along the Gulf Coast, creating further supply problems at a time when oil is already in high demand around the world.

“Any small disruption can have huge reverberations throughout the market, and Katrina is a huge disruption. It’s not a small one,” said Michael F. Newman, executive vice president of NOCO Energy Corp., which has 40 gasoline-convenience stores throughout the Western New York region.

It will take a few days, even a few weeks, to assess how much damage the powerful hurricane caused, Banaszak said. If much of the operations can be restored in the next couple of weeks, it should limit the impact on prices, he said.

Newman would expect gas prices to start curbing other household spending - maybe when it comes to back-to-school or Christmas shopping - but he doesn’t think it will affect people’s Labor Day plans.

Getting together with family in Stockton this weekend is more important than saving on gas, said Buffalo’s Suzanne Fargino.

“We’re still traveling,” she said. “We do our normal stuff every weekend, and [gas prices] really haven’t put a damper on our plans.”

Even with this summer’s high gas prices, road trips are still a viable option for most families, said Diana Dibble, public affairs manager for the AAA of Western and Central New York.

Travelers who take the same trip this Labor Day as they did last year will only pay $18.25 more for gas, she said.

“Travel by car is still relatively economical for a family,” Dibble said. “(Gas) is a relatively small percentage of total travel expenses.”

Bob Payne and his wife towed their 271/2-foot camper from their home in Fort Erie, Ont., to Ellicottville for a few days this week.

“I’m retired, and it will take a little bit more than high gas prices to keep us home,” he said while topping off his Chevrolet Silverado at Tops on Niagara Street. “I just finished a cancer operation, so if I get up in the morning and I feel good, we’re going.”

The AAA projected the number of Labor Day travelers nationwide will be up less than 1 percent from the same weekend last year, although that 2004 figure was one of the smallest increase posted for recent Labor Days.

But the urge to hit the road for the last long weekend of summer is too strong for many travelers to resist, Dibble said.

“You have individuals who plan for this weekend all year, and they’re going to travel no matter what,” she said. “Despite the higher gas prices, Americans are still determined to travel.”