Compared with March a year earlier, Americans drove an estimated 4.3 percent less — that’s 11
billion
fewer miles. Add in the fact that according to AAA, Americans said they were planning to drive less over the Memorial Day weekend than they did the year before to AAA, for the first time since 2002.
With no relief in sight for consecutive record gas prices, many Americans have turned to public transportation. Ridership increased by 2.1 percent in 2007, according to the American Public Transportation Association.
Americans took 10.3 billion trips on public transportation in 2007, the highest level in 50 years, the group said.
The Energy Information Administration says gas consumption for the first three months of 2008 is estimated to be down about 0.6 percent from the same time period in 2007. And for the summer season, gas consumption is expected to be down 0.4 percent from a year ago.
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