Upset by today's $2 price for a gallon of gasoline? At $3 a gallon, would you swap that hulking SUV for a more fuel-efficient vehicle? At $4, would you carpool, take the bus or - heaven forbid - walk?
Just how high must gas prices go before you shout, Enough?
National surveys and feedback from St. Petersburg Times readers say we have not yet reached the price of gas at which large numbers of consumers will change their driving behavior. Gas demand hit a record high 8.9-million barrels a day for the first quarter of 2004. It has since risen to 9.3-million barrels a day in late April and early May, government data show.
But we are getting closer to that price. With the average price for regular gas topping $2 and still rising in the Tampa Bay area, people who drive a lot, feel constrained by tight budgets or are simply fed up are starting to change their driving and living habits.
St. Petersburg's Hal Hammer Jr., a construction manager for Lexington Homes, drives more than 200 miles a day visiting job sites in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Manatee counties. Hammer figures he is spending nearly $10 more a day - that's $2,600 a year - on fuel than he did last year.
To ease the pain, he has swapped his V8-engine Ford Explorer for his wife's more efficient six-cylinder Chevy S10. On the road, he's driving slower to boost gas mileage. It works, he said, but there's a cost. It adds two driving hours to his day.
Joe Peters of Largo has a bolder plan. A Boeing quality engineer who works at Honeywell, he leaves his GMC Jimmy at home these days. Now he commutes on a small gas-powered scooter that he bought on eBay. The price of the scooter, which gets 80 miles per gallon, was less than two fillups of his truck at current prices.
Michael Rainier drives from Largo to his job in Brandon and back, a daily 80-mile commute. He says he would take the bus, but there is no express service by the time he leaves work.
Says Rainier: "I think the most I'll pay is $2 per gallon before I start looking at alternatives."
A national survey in March found that if gas hit $2.75 a gallon and stuck there for six months, then 16.5 percent of consumers would "eventually" buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle. And 4.7 percent would consider buying a hybrid gas-electric vehicle, while 8.9 percent would simply drive "somewhat" less.
If gas prices rose another dollar to $3.75, the survey said, more than a third would buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle. A sharply higher 25.1 percent would consider a hybrid, and 27.7 percent would drive less, according to the survey by CNW Marketing Research in Brandon, Ore.
Last week, the Times asked readers to tell us by e-mail or fax how high gas prices must rise before they changed driving habits or lifestyle. The anecdotal feedback?
- People who must drive long distances or closely watch their expenses say they are already feeling the hurt at $2 a gallon.
From Brooksville, Angela Washburn spends $360 a month on gas to drive her 2002 Chevrolet Suburban every day to Clearwater. Now she's shopping for an economical four-cylinder vehicle.
- Retirees who once looked forward to their freedom to travel or volunteer their services to the community now feel pressured by gas prices to cut back.
"We bought a motor home to travel - our dream," said Valerie Rosensteel in Seminole. "With prices what they are, our trips will have to be very minimal."
Even the homebound elderly get hurt by rising gas prices, said Sandra Narron of Neighborly Care Network in St. Petersburg. Many depend on the Meals on Wheels program for their meals. "Many Meals on Wheels volunteers are on fixed incomes and may be forced to cut back expenses," she said.
- Some readers are spending less to offset higher gas prices. Sid Gordon of Bayonet Point in Pasco County spends $39 more each month for gas than he did five months ago.
"Because of this increase, we eat out less. Hope it does not get worse," he said.
So do plenty of businesses that worry there are others like the Gordons?
A National Retail Federation survey released last week shows that, in response to higher gas prices, a third of the nation's consumers would cut summer vacation plans and trim back on food, restaurants, clothes and entertainment.
"Many retail sectors, from cars to clothes, will feel the pinch," the retail trade association said.
Overall SUV sales are hardly tanking. But sales of the big SUVs are starting to droop. Now U.S. truckmakers are raising their incentives and rebates.
Tampa Bay area residents who already drive or have switched to gas-sipping vehicles are feeling pretty good about themselves.
In St. Petersburg, Sharon Henry and her husband drive a 1996 Miata and a 2003 Accord. They typically pay a reasonable $60 a month for gas. "I have absolutely nothing to complain about," Henry said. She said she would be unhappy if their gas bill increased to $100 a month. That translates to about $3.30 for a gallon of gas.
"SUV owners," Henry added in her e-mail, "eat your hearts out!"
In Pinellas Park, Mary MacKenzie has even more to crow about.
Two years ago, the insurance claim examiner bought a Toyota Prius, one of the first hybrid gas-electric cars on the market. She fills the modest gas tank once a month, gets 42 miles per gallon on average and has put 37,000 miles on the vehicle.
"I wanted good mileage," she said Friday. "I figured in our political world culture that we will need good mileage for the rest of our known lives."
MacKenzie still scratches her head at her "good intelligent friends" who continue to buy SUVs. Lately, as rising gas prices become a hot button and more of an issue in the presidential campaign, more people stop and ask her about her Prius experience.
When she plans a summer driving trip, she hardly considers the gas prices.
MacKenzie asked me if the initial e-mail she sent the Times about her Toyota hybrid was too boastful. After all, she is originally from Detroit, America's car capital.
"Did it sound like I was bragging?" MacKenzie quickly adds: "I was."
