Despite Gas Costs, Millions Leave Town

(CBS/AP)  Travelers were packing airports, rail lines and roadways Friday as the Memorial Day weekend got under way, contending with crowds and high gas costs in order to mark the traditional start of the summer travel season.

An estimated 38 million Americans plan to travel this holiday weekend, according to the American Automobile Association. That's nearly 2 percent more than last year.

High gas prices may force some to pinch pennies, but they won't stay home, reports CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes.

With gasoline prices so high, and airfares slightly down, 3 percent more people, or 4.5 million, will fly this Memorial Day weekend compared to last year, reports Cordes.

"It's actually cheaper right now, especially if you're going more than 300 or 400 miles, to take an airplane than it is to drive a car," says airline industry analyst Darryl Jenkins.

More than 1.4 million passengers were expected to pour into the New York City area's three major airports between Friday and Tuesday, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty airports.

Close to 2 million holiday travelers this weekend will also travel by train or bus. Another 32 million will go by car, despite gas prices that reached a record national high when the average nationwide price of self-serve regular gasoline hit $3.18 earlier this week, according to the Lundberg Survey.

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Tens of millions of Americans were traveling for the Memorial Day weekend, many of them across Pennsylvania. CBS News' Rob Milford has the story. (audio)

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"Families will travel closer to home, and they may travel fewer days and try to save money by staying in less expensive hotels," Jeanenne Diefendorf of Orbitz Travel Insider told CBS News.

But some costs are down, reports Cordes.

"If you're renting a car this weekend, expect to pay an average of $31 a day; that's actually $6 dollars less than last year," she said. "If you're hitting the skies, airfares are down an average of 5 percent."

Travelers "are going online to do more trip planning, and they're going to bargain destinations, booking cruise deals, and using new technology to get their travel information faster and easier," said Sandra Hughes of the Federal Aviation Administration.

About 3.4 million vehicles were expected to churn through the Port Authority's four bridges and two tunnels, which link various parts of New York City to New Jersey.

Although a gallon of regular gasoline was averaging about $3.30 in New York City, neighboring New Jersey was the only state where the average prices was below $3.00.

Gas prices are driving an increasing number of car owners to downsize, reports CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts. Since 2004, the sale of large SUVs has dropped nearly 17 percent, going from 71,000 sold in April 2004 to just over 59,000 last month. For compact cars it's just the opposite: an increase of 12 percent. In April of 2004, 209,242 compact cars were sold compared to 234,802 last month.

Perhaps most telling, sales of hybrid vehicles, which run on a combination of gasoline and electricity, have jumped 300 percent, from nearly 6,832 in April of 2004 to more than 27,349 last month.

People are also planning to drive less, says AAA New York spokesman Robert Sinclair.

"People are still driving, but there are definite concessions being made," said Sinclair. "They're planning to the nth degree how much gas they'll use."

Kevin Gilmartin, for one, is gauging the breaking point.

"A couple more gas hikes, and we'll start taking the train," said Gilmartin, 42, a Westchester County construction worker.

"We will be going on vacation this summer, but with the price of gas, I can guarantee you I won't have a good time," one traveler told Nathan Hager of CBS radio affiliate WTOP.

[sjc_1]

If anyone remembers the 2000/2001 Enron gaming of the electricity and natural gas markets in California, you will remember that California reduced consumption almost 10% very quickly.

My point is, if we want to do something about high gasoline prices and refinery shortages, let us start with US.

Our behavior can do more towards a solution than anything in the short run. Instead of "buy no no gas on Wednesdays" nonsense, try using less for the second half of this year.

From June 1, 2007 through December 31, 2007, try using 5% less gasoline than you did the previous 6 months. The methods will be different with each situation, but I believe that it can be done.

[kevzgrl]

just topped my tank off at $3.13 a gal last night. I paid $3.09 last week. Where are these $3.40-$4.00+ prices everyone is complaining about??
not that I'm looking or anything.
Posted by ralan40 at 09:11 AM : May 27, 2007

To answer you: right here in Zanesville,Ohio - where regular gas was raised to $3.49 per gallon this week. 25 miles to our east on Interstate 70 (in Cambridge) it was 25 cents cheaper, and is lower in most of the other communities around us. Wish someone could explain that to me.

I do not live on a bus line or within walking or bike distance from my work, so I have no choice but to pump gas that goes up and up and very rarely in the other direction.

Wish I had your problem of $3.13 per gallon.....

[ralan40]

I just topped my tank off at $3.13 a gal last night. I paid $3.09 last week. Where are these $3.40-$4.00+ prices everyone is complaining about??
not that I'm looking or anything.

[j_flood]

First of all, I'm not looking to be felt sorry for. My comments are meant to put some perspective on the topic. Ireland is a small market place to begin with. Economy of scale affects Ireland in many ways including gasoline. Cost of product is about the same as say Germany, with a tax structure about the same as in the USA except all taxes are the equivalent of federal. Fuel taxes fund roads. Public transport receives less than 10% subsidy from the general treasury. It is very close to pay as you go. You may be presuming a more socialist regime funding all sorts of social benefits. I wouldn't call it that. This is not a classic welfare state. (Perhaps you haven't heard of the 'Celtic Tiger'?) There are legacy issues with health and other services from state owned institutions. But by and by the fuel costs, road tax and other charges are kept within the purview of the national roads authorities. Does that help hypnotoad72?

[hypnotoad72]

j_flood - I'd like to know why gas costs more in Ireland. Health care costs? For subsidizing public transport? Government greed? Give us the underlying reason to feel sorry for your situation.

I'd also like to see more fuel efficient cars, people living closer to work, walking when possible, light rail, teleworking, and other things. With gas prices going up, it's quite obvious these alternative forms of transport will be more seriously considered.

[j_flood]

Sorry I can't feel your pain in the USA. Welcome to the real world. I'm an American living in Ireland, we pay the equivalent of $6.16 per gallon here. We pay road tax based on engine size too. The bigger the engine the bigger the annual tax. For that reason and others I choose to drive a 1.6L car. I've detuned myself from big Detroit irons. That wasn't easy - I'm FROM Detroit.

As a nation, buy less gas, and I guarantee you the price won't go up.

[hypnotoad72]

uhf62 - Canada also signed NAFTA. It allows the US to take Canada's energy supplies as needed.

[hypnotoad72]

So advocate what? Families living closer together? People living close to their wokrplaced?

Either the naive or those blessed with large egos (or small goolies) feel the need to buy overtly sized, energy wasting tools.

I will repeat, we can reduce our need for oil and the oil executives will always find patents or other things to ensure they remain wealthy. To allow giving up a total dominance of the stuff won't kill anybody or their wealth in the process.

[likeitis5050]

With the profits at 200% + for the oil industry, any talk of taxes going to benefit any part of that industry should be considered a crime. They stop production for repair or maintenence and gas prices shoot up 50 cents a gallon. Why? They have found a way to gouge without penalty. Why aren't they using their own profits to build more refineries. They won't *** without Federal funding but it always seems to get the nod. People are not driving more. SUV sales have dropped by 30%. Economy car sales have gone up 15% and hybrid sales are up 400%. The people are speaking, but as long as the oil industry can say, 'prices are up due to repairs' and the stations immediately hit the pumps with a 20 cent increase AND GET AWAY WITH IT, we will continue to see their profit margins get bigger without so much as a tear for the people having to choose gas money over other necessities.

[uhf62]

janem4

You hit the nail right on the head,its the gas taxes on both sides of the border,People from here in New Brunswick,cross over to Maine to fill up their tanks at a cheaper price.But again
the taxes are necesaary if we are ever going to be forced to change our ways & find alternative fuels or use mass transit,car pooling,or even just walking.we just cannot go on like this anymore for the oil will not last forever.