May 3, 2008
The Psychology of Getting Soaked at the Pump
A penny here, a penny there, pretty soon it adds up to driving right by a gas station because they've crossed a psychological barrier of asking more than four bucks for a gallon of gas. Area stations are trying hard to hold the line at $3.99 a gallon to keep from scaring the bejeezus out of drivers with the facts, which is that gasoline is the most expensive it's been since the invention of the internal combustion engine.
The New York Times looks at the phenomena, where gas stations cling to that number "3" with tenacity, while drivers go out of state--to New Jersey!--to top off their tanks at fifty cents less per gallon.
“At every 10-cent level, dealers don’t want to break the digit — it’s a psychological barrier,” said Ralph Bombardiere, executive director of the New York State Association of Service Stations and Repair Shops. The trade association, based in Albany, represents about 7,200 gas stations statewide, including some 3,500 in New York City and Westchester and on Long Island.Consumers were quick to agree with Mr. Enstine, admitting that they'd rather head to Jersey than pay more than $4/gallon. President Bush has suggested a tax holiday on gas to give drivers a break. Mayor Bloomberg thinks that idea is "idiotic". In the meantime, it may eventually seem quaint that drivers found $3.99-a-gallon gas "shocking." At least NY gas isn't causing cars to break down.“But the four is a mind-set,” Mr. Enstine said. “If you go to $4, you might as well go to $4.20 or $4.60, because in the mind of the consumer, they only see the $4.”
gas, by Sherilyn at flickr
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"President Bush has suggested a tax holiday on gas to give drivers a break. Mayor Bloomberg thinks that idea is "idiotic"."
That's why I like Mike Bloomberg.
I'm not certain why everyone is in slack jawed shock, Europe has been paying higher prices than this for ages. America is just into gluttony with gas, with food, with wars. We're shocked when we do selfish things for decades and it actually comes back to bite us in the ass. I just wish the Mad Max stuff would start already. I've had my Apocalypse outfit on a hanger in the closet since 1999.
Food for oil. Let's see who outlasts the other.
the policy of our expanding technological civilization is to use up all the oil as quickly as possible.
there is no repeat no other policy.
driving to jersey for gas is the perfect example.
The idea of a gas tax holiday is most certainly idiotic, and it's an obvious ploy to increase consumption of oil in order to help out Bush's oil company cronies. It might save people some money in the short run, but four dollar, five dollar, six dollar a gallon prices are going to have to be dealt with at some point.
Right now, with oil the way it is, it's starting push people into buying small cars and take more public transport. How is that a bad thing? Hell, I even saw a news report about Acela and Amtrak on NBC Nightly News the other night.
They were talking about how they're pulling in a lot more money now, and they're thinking of extending the Acela down to North Carolina as well as building high speed networks in Florida and California.
It sucks that the poorest Americans get screwed the most by higher gas prices, but we've had cheap gas for so long and shit is bound to change.
Obviously our taxes should be used to buy gas so that it can be given away free to every member of every fat mouth-breather family who each drives around endlessly in their own enormous SUVs.
Dumb idea.
I like to see the government invest in high speed railroads.
If the government wanted to do something then lower the price of hybrid cars and stop the auto industry from making gas drinking cars,trucks and SUVs.
Nowadays, the people out in the street "begging for gas" are actually begging for gas. This 'crisis' is bringing a refreshing honesty to the american scene.
So I guess we'll sort of get a de facto congestion pricing plan after all, but without the $350 million dollar bonus. Thanks everybody!!