A rare blip of common sense?

Another recent poll of more than 39,000 [Gasbuddy.com] members showed that 54% were still limiting their driving and combining multiple errands into single trips. An additional 16% said they had reduced their driving speeds and weren't planning to speed up again. Only 18% said they hadn't changed their driving habits to save fuel, and 2% said they had gone back to their old ways of driving.

-- "Gasoline Is Cheap But We're Still Saving It," LAT, Dec 1, 08

We recently resumed a weekend trek to a farmer's market we really like that's 30 miles away, but we've cut back our driving in many other ways, so we're still on an every-other-week trip to the gas station. What about you all? Did you alter your driving habits this year? What's the effect been like on your wallet?

Comments

[Kathleen Donohue]

I've hugely cut back on driving, so much so that I haven't seen my friends that live a half-hour drive away for three months. I live in the SF Bay Area, and when gas was at $4 a gallon, it's a lot of Happy Meals to get anywhere. Luckily, the weather has been pretty good and my neighborhood is bikable, so I'm down to one tank of gas per month and I'm hoping to keep it that way.

[Kerry]

I moved to an apartment that is literally a 5 minute walk to work and across the street from a Target, a grocery, a Starbucks and 2 streets away from the library. And there's more amenities within a mile in multiple directions. I'm thinking about getting a bike.

The gas savings will be considerable, but honestly the time saved in the commute might be even better. Oh, and food--I can come home for lunch.

[amanda]

I hate to say this but we're driving more than ever. We bought a house... a little too far from the downtown as it turns out. And a little more inconvenient via public transportation than we thought. And, now that the weather has turned nasty, I've stopped my bike commute. It's been a real exercise in finding the sweet spot between time, money and convenience. We drive in together and parking is partially subsidized by his work. That really became the tipping point for us. The lowered gas prices feel like such a treat!

However, we are still being very conscious of the gas. Just because gas prices has come down doesn't mean everything else has. We have one car and must coordinate carefully anyway but we just don't like to drive more than necessary. We won't be getting bonuses this year and my company has cut overtime hours so we're belt tightening and really hoping that we have jobs in the New Year.