Gas prices are sky high (over $3 in Texas for regular). So how is this affecting peoples’ driving habits? Some of the DieselEarth readers have written in with their plans to combat high gas prices, and I’d like to address some of the more popular answers:

Change Your Driving Habits – Drive Less

This is actually one of my favorite suggestions. Although the reader who wrote in meant it as a suggestion for going out less and taking fewer driving vacations, I think it should be taken further than that. In this day and age of technological communication, why are we still driving to work?

A few months before I quit my job to become a web publisher I had conversation with my boss and asked him why I came to the office everyday. I didn’t interact with customers, 95% of my work effort was done at a computer terminal, and the infrastructure for at least partial telecommunication was already in place. He didn’t really have a good answer for me.

I believe that as our capacity for communication increases with technology, we’ll start to see more individuals producing out of their homes and avoiding the high overhead costs (in both time and money) of commuting to work. This in its own right will become (at least in my mind) an alternative solution to the energy problems we’re facing.

More from this series on Changing Your Driving Habits.

Gas prices are sky high (over $3 in Texas for regular). So how is this affecting peoples’ driving habits? Some of the DieselEarth readers have written in with their plans to combat high gas prices, and I’d like to address some of the more popular answers:

Change Your Driving Habits – Carpooling

Carpooling is another popular alternative, but I contend that America isn’t built on public transportation, and Americans are too individualistic (meaning we don’t work well as a group). We’ve been alone in our cars driving our four to eight seat autos for decades with just ourselves behind the wheel. I do it and the majority of the readers of this article probably do it.

Although car pooling is a viable option for some (and I salute them for doing it) I see it as a last resort, and ultimately I believe that we as a nation will push to develop an alternative fuel solution long before we have to share our morning ride to work. Carpooling may be a solution for those living in metropolitan areas, but just won’t work for rural Americans.

More from this series on Changing Your Driving Habits.

Gas prices are sky high (over $3 in Texas for regular). So how is this affecting peoples’ driving habits? Some of the DieselEarth readers have written in with their plans to combat high gas prices, and I’d like to address some of the more popular answers:

Change Your Driving Habits – Buy Smaller Vehicles

This is a good answer as well, but I see it as a short-term solution. True, buying smaller vehicles will alleviate prices temporarily as individuals need less gas to operate their vehicles, but they’ll still be driving as much and the country will continue to grow and necessitate more vehicles on the road. Buying smaller cars is an excellent stop-gap solution while we work toward a permanent solution to the nation’s energy problems, but it’s not the solution in and of itself.

More from this series on Changing Your Driving Habits.

Gas prices are sky high (over $3 in Texas for regular). So how is this affecting peoples’ driving habits? Some of the DieselEarth readers have written in with their plans to combat high gas prices, and I’d like to address some of the more popular answers:

Change Your Driving Habits – Hybrid vehicles

Some readers have written in to let me know that they intend to buy a hybrid vehicle, something powered by a combination of electricity and petroleum, to alleviate the effect of high gas prices on their budgets. The problem with this idea is that hybrid vehicles are at best a push when it comes to saving money on transportation. The average cost of a hybrid vehicle is higher by $2500-$3000 with regard to initial purchase price, they’re subject possible costly repairs, and they don’t offer the fuel economy that most drivers expect when making the switch*.

The reason for this is simply that the technology is too new. As in most new model cars, Detroit is often quick to rush them to market to meet consumer demands. First year models have quirks that will be worked out only as the vehicle is road tested by millions of drivers and the problems are addressed one by one in preceding model years. It’s likely that hybrid cars will someday break through the barrier and become a true alternative means of transport, but today is not the day.

*Edumunds.com The Real Cost of Owning a Hybrid

More from this series on Changing Your Driving Habits.