Saturday, October 08, 2005

Gas Prices



To folks in the USA suffering from gasoline-price shock, CNN presents a little table of "Gas Prices Around the World" that offers cold comfort.

Even at $3.00 a gallon, the US is far behind the average $5.50 charged in the United Kingdom. Most European prices are in the $4-5 range. In Asia, the average price is $2-3.

To get rock-bottom gas, you'd need to live in Moscow, Tajikistan, or Azerbaijan; and good luck on finding Western-style amenities.

In Venezuela the price is 14 cents a gallon, although the government monopoly charges far more at its 14,000 Citgo stations in the USA.

Rising prices hit hard at commuters and fixed-income retirees. What are you doing: driving less, riding a bus, or (gasp) walking? Comments are welcome.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Will,
I'll tell you what I am doing--organizing and consolidating. No more "run into town for one item" errands every day. It takes 15-20 minutes to get into town from where we live, and I make sure that I have a planned list of places to go, both on the way in and on the way out. Also, here in Spfd., the gas prices nearly always jump up on Thursday and dwindle down through Wednesday, so I make sure to top off the first of the week. I can't tell how much I am saving since gas is so darn high anyway, but psychologically, I feel like I am at least trying to do my part.
Best to you, Will
Diane

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty much stuck even though I feel like I might as well just turn over my paycheck to the gas station. We live in the country so I put 50 miles a day on my car just commuting to work, and when we go to a play as we did last night or a sports event or a concert it's usually also 25 or more miles away. And my husband wonders why I miss living in the city! At least gas here in PA is usually at least 10-20 cents less than NY where I work. Thank heaven we bought a Subaru Outback instead of an SUV.

Barbara Edmiston Mitchell

Will Howarth said...

Ooooo, compared to you guys, I am so spoiled. I work at home and drive to campus twice a week, an 8-mile round trip. With errands, I probably do only 50 miles a week. Still, I know that the high prices are very hard on long-distance drivers. We all need fresh thinking about transportation.

Anonymous said...

Here in Germany 73 cents of every 1 Euro of gasoline goes to Feds as TAX!

Anonymous said...

...back to Germany! :-) Past weekend we filled our Prius with gasoline that cost Euro 1.359 per liter. That would be per gallon, E. 5.1438 or USD $6.4883 per gallon. (Using today´s rate which is quite good for a change.) Spent E 95.13 for 70 liters (18.49 gallons) for a GRAND TOTAL of USD $113.5043.
As I said in previous entry, 73 cents of every 1 Euro is TAX!