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Cars and Planes
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
The New York Times just published two reports that implicitly underline the need for more trains and which should help guide the US towards sounder overall transportation policies.
Sunday’s (June 29) Week in Review (under big article on Nigerian oil production problems) has a bar graph showing gasoline pump prices for 27 nations (once the page loads, click on the graph to enlarge it), plus--for most of them--tax and non-tax portions of those prices and “cost to fill the 26-gallon tank of a 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe”.
The eye-opener: US tax (federal + average state) is 49 cents a gallon vs. $1.26 in Canada. European per-gallon taxes range from $3.37 in Spain to $5.57 in Netherlands.
The cost to fill that Tahoe ranges from $6.50 in Venezuela to $104 in the US, $189.80 in Spain and $261.30 in the Netherlands.
The total per-gallon pump price is $8.98 in Germany, $8.78 in France and $8.71 in the UK.
(The latest AAA average US prices can be found here where current, day before, and month and year before prices are shown for regular, mid, premium, diesel and E-85, plus a BTU-adjusted figure for E-85 to reflect its lower energy content. There is also a graph with a one-year history for cost of wholesale, “national average” and crude oil. Finally, there’s a link to click “for information on using public transit to reduce fuel use.")
On Saturday, June 28, a front-page story gave comprehensive overview of planned airline service reductions: ”Travelers Face Deep Flight Cuts by Summer’s End”
Some key quotes: “[Labor Day] is when significant cuts in the airlines’ fleets and schedules will begin taking effect, making for a particularly jarring end to summer.
“Across the United States, airports from La Guardia in New York to Oakland in California will be affected by flight cuts, bringing the industry down to a size last seen in 2002, when travel fell sharply after the 9/11 attacks.
“Over all, the cuts will reduce flights this year by American carriers by almost 10%, industry analysts estimate, with even deeper cuts in store for 2009.
“‘The U.S. industry is undertaking a historic restructuring,’ Gary Chase, an industry analyst with Lehman Brothers, wrote in a research report Friday. Air fares, which are up about 17% this year on average, may rise as much as 40% within the next four years, Mr. Chase predicted.”
A related story gives tips for those planning to fly.
--Ross B. Capon
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