Home > Gwinnett > Rick Badie / My Opinion > Archives > 2008 > June > 17
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Pain at the pump altering our habits
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gas prices had just surpassed the $4 a gallon mark.
Roy K. Hendee III of Norcross didn’t foresee any respite in regards to petro prices anytime soon. So Hendee, 43, single with no kids, made a decision.
He put his 2004 Lincoln Navigator - his “rolling cream puff” - on the market. He sent out an e-mail to people who could use a large vehicle, friends and colleagues with families. I got the e-mail. I know Hendee from my college days. We lived on the same floor one year in UGA’s Milledge Hall.
“Never had so much as a hiccup out of [the SUV] except at the gas pump,” he quipped in his e-mail.
There’s one good thing about spiraling gas prices. They’ve become motivators, tipping scales. They are getting more of us to follow the example of Hendee - who’s in the commercial real estate business - to think differently about what we drive and how we drive as it relates to work or pleasure.
Gwinnettians are commuting and car pooling more. A June 12 AJC Gwinnett News story stated the number of people who’ve asked to join the Clean Air Campaign’s alternative commute incentives program has more than doubled compared with the same period in 2007.
Since the 2008 year began, 424 people who work or live here asked to join the program. Compare that with the first five months of 2007, when only 207 inquired. That same Gwinnett News story stated that about 50,000 Gwinnett residents car pooled or took mass transit in 2006, the highest number of any metro Atlanta county. Of course, that’s just a drop in the bucket, since a U.S. Census report showed 80 percent of working Gwinnettians - or 265,000 people - drove solo to work that same year.
But it’s a start, a reflection of a metrowide trend. This region’s drivers are adapting to alternative sources of commuting at one of the fastest rates in the nation, according to a May survey by the IBM Institute for Electronic Government.
At the state Capitol, Gov. Sonny Perdue has experienced an about-face on transportation issues. Last week he held a news conference to announce his full support for a proposed commuter rail line that links Atlanta with Lovejoy. He also wants to act aggressively on transportation alternatives.
In a matter of days, Hendee was able to unload his Navigator for $18,000 or so. His experience may have been gruesome at a car dealership. Drastically so.
Jeff Burg, a car salesman for Ed Voyles Acura, told me about a customer who wanted to trade in a 2007 Nissan Titan that contained all the fancy bells and whistles.
“Just loaded out,” said Burg, recalling the $42,000 truck.
The used-car sales manager checked with wholesalers to ascertain the truck’s value. Burg relayed the bad news. The value came in at $20,000, but even at that price, no wholesalers, who represent used car dealerships, wanted it.
“I’ve never seen that happen in all my years in the industry,” Burg told me. “Gas prices are so high that trucks and V-8s aren’t wanted on car lots. It has everything to do with gas prices.”
After his Navigator sold, Hendee bought a 2007 Infiniti M-45. It lists a fuel economy of 19 miles per gallon in the city and 23 mpg on the highway.
“This is the first vehicle purchase that I’d ever made in which miles per gallon factored into the purchase decision,” he told me. “I am getting significantly better gas mileage. The 4.5 liter, V-8 isn’t exactly a hybrid, but it’s a step in the right direction. I just couldn’t justify 11 miles per gallon any longer.”
Who can?
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
Permalink | Comments (12) | Post your comment | Categories: Rick Badie
