Yeah, Gas is Cheaper, BUT....

So yeah, gas prices are half what they were a few months ago. It may relieve us a little in these scary economic times (two friends lost their jobs just today!), but it's not a good thing. It's the simple law of supply and demand.

In reality, many factors are involved, but demand did slow up for gas over the past few months as a result of higher prices and changes in consumer transportation preferences. I read some pretty amazing figures in Mother Jones today:

Decrease in total miles Americans drove in June 2008, compared to June 2007: 12.2 BILLION

Transit rides taken in the first three months of 2008: 2.7 BILLION

Increase in transit rides from last year: 88 MILLION

Transit ridership in 1946, when US ridership was at its peak: 23 BILLION

So even though gas prices really stunk last summer, they brought some great benefits to our country. Which makes me worried about these $1.75/gallon prices I've spotted. Just when people were considering lifestyle changes, we're back to where we started.

On a related note, I blogged last month about the revolutionary car insurance company, MileMeter. Today I finally had the time to compare my current insurance costs @ State Farm to a quote for identical insurance from MileMeter. I found that for my current driving habits, switching to MileMeter won't save me much money :( The main culprit is commuting to my office, which is out in Bee Cave unfortunately. I love my job and am lucky to be able to telework at least one day every week, which helps...but the distance factor is the one thing keeping me feeling guilty about it. If I worked downtown or somewhere closer, MileMeter would be a much better deal. So for anyone thinking about switching, check out a free quote on their site.