Article: Road traffic up 84% in the U.K.
 

I don't know North American stats, but I'd have to guess they'd be similar, if not worse.

read more: Road Traffic up 84%

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On top of it all, denser traffic means less lattitude for hypermiling techniques.

I wonder: how much has traffic risen on a per capita basis?

I wonder what the hell people are doing? What about all that online shopping crap?

It's all the delivery vans!

Maybe people got more fuel efficient cars, so now they're on the road more? (I only drove 10,000 kms a year in my Cordoba [2002] and 20,000 kms a year in my T-Bird [2006], but I did over 50,000 kms in a year with the Geo [2007]).

I was actually thinking internet shopping my significantly reduce the amount of trips people make. *shrug*

Really? Rush hour IMO can be an efficient driver's dream. Average speeds of ~15-35mph, and with a manual the driver can keep distance fairly easily w/o having to brake/gas/brake/gas/brake/etc...

Maybe I don't drive in the same heavy traffic you do - or as well as you do. But I never do as well when I get to Ottawa (the closest city with "real" urban traffic) as I can do in lighter traffic around here, less, um, interrupted by other drivers.

You're an interesting guy, Peakster. You're the guy I read about in studies that show vehicle choice is linked to fuel prices (getting the Geo instead of the Jeep).

And also the guy I read about in studies that suggest overall fuel use staying constant because people drive their more efficient cars more.

(But I'm going to be lazy this morning and not find any links to those studies.)

I wonder if I would consider Ottawa traffic light... Ever been to southern California? ;)

No, I've never been. It's all a matter of perspective, eh?

Yup.

Wow that dude's just asking to be an organ donor.:eek:

The article does say that train use is up 50% so maybe it just a matter of population increase.

Insanity! :O

Hmmm. I seem to see that no matter what we do we're not actually causing oil to last any longer, with gas guzzlers we use up gas a lot but people don't wanna drive their cars all the time for that reason and people with gas sippers drive more cause they spend so little on gas, but because of these reasons we still are using the same amount of gas as normal. Maybe the only real option is find a renewable fuel resource normal gasoline engines can run off of.

Not everyone drives more when they increase their efficiency. Ahem.

MetroMPG, how many kilometres have you put on the Blackfly in the past year?

I haven't done the 2007 tally yet, but I'd guess about 6000.

Holy smokes! Even with gas prices they way they are, you're using less than $250 in fuel a year!

That's like... filling up a Ford truck's tank twice and saying "Okay, I'm finished for the year". Insane.

OK, did the tally: it's actually 3700 km (so far - it'll be over 4k by the end of the month). EDIT: Yikes - I spent FAR more on insurance than fuel this year.

Does your insurance give you a break for driving so little?