Published: July 05, 2008 09:16 pm         

Gas costs have some keeping trips short

TERRE HAUTE — Rising gasoline prices may be keeping many Wabash Valley residents closer to home over the holiday weekend.

According to the American Automobile Association, regular unleaded gasoline in Terre Haute was selling for an average of $4.07 per gallon on Saturday — up from $3.93 a month ago, but down from the record price of $4.13 set June 17.

“You have to rethink what you’re going to do,” said Scott Stanton of Linton, who was waiting to ride the miniature train at Deming Park with Lisa Kinkade, Ashley Todd, 12, and Alesia Stanton, 7. Scott Stanton recently sold his boat due to high gas prices, he noted. The boat’s gas tank cost $200 to fill, he said.

At current prices, a round trip from Indianapolis to Chicago in a 2005 Chrysler Sebring would cost $52 in fuel, according to AAA. The same trip would cost $82 in a 2005 four-wheel drive Ford Explorer and $28 in a Honda Civic Hybrid, AAA reports.

According to AAA, the nationwide average price of self-serve gasoline is at a record level of $4.09 per gallon. The higher prices are being driven by a sense that supply is barely keeping up with demand, a weakening U.S. dollar and worries that Israel may strike Iranian nuclear installations, which could disrupt oil shipping, AAA reports.

With prices like these, many people may be looking for things to do closer to home.

“Terre Haute has a lot to offer in terms of activities,” said Valeri Chapman, who was riding her bike Saturday on the National Road Heritage Trail, which runs from Indiana State University to east of Rose-Hulman on Terre Haute’s east side. The city offers a lot of interesting activities, restaurants and events, she said. For people who don’t want to travel very far, “they can find what they are looking for right here,” Chapman said.

It’s not clear to what extent gas prices are a cause, but traffic levels are falling across the country, according to the Federal Highway Administration. The government agency reported a 1.4 percent decline in traffic levels nationwide in 2007. And, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, gasoline consumption is expected to fall 0.3 percent this year. If true, that would be the first decline in annual gasoline consumption since 1991, according to Business Week magazine.

What people are traveling in is also changing. According to Business Week, SUV sales fell 27 percent in the first quarter of this year and pickup truck sales fell 14 percent.

While gasoline prices are higher today in inflation adjusted terms than they were in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as a percentage of per capita Gross Domestic Product, gasoline is still less costly than it was during the last big oil crunch 26 years ago, according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

That’s still little comfort to many people, especially in west central Indiana where gasoline currently consumes an average of six or seven percent of income, according to the New York Times.

“We stayed home yesterday,” Scott Stanton said. Saturday morning he and his family “brainstormed” to decide what they could do without traveling too far, he added. They decided on a visit to Deming Park in Terre Haute and a later visit to a drag strip in Lyons, he said. “Just keeping it close.”

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@hotmail.com.