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There was just a report that transit ridership was up, in part, because of the rise in the price of gas.

Transit ridership probably did increase because of the rise in gas prices. But the increase in transit ridership was utterly trivial. A minuscule fraction of total urban travel. The point is not that there is no relationship at all, but that the relationship is extremely weak. Even a doubling of gas prices would probably have only a tiny effect on modal shares, especially because of recent advances in vehicle fuel economy.

Also, driving appears to be inelastic to the price of gasoline up to the point when gas hits $2.50 a gallon. Then it appears that a rise in gas prices is met with a drop in driving

No, the real price of gasoline has been at or above $2.50/gallon for long periods of time in the past without any drop in driving. The idea that $2.50 is some kind of threshold that causes driving to fall simply isn't supported by the data. As I said, the primary cause of the (tiny) drop in driving in the late 00s was the recession (the worst recession of the past 50 years) and the associated loss of jobs and income.

by Bertie on Mar 16, 2012 3:16 pm • link • report

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