NW drivers driving less

From KUOW and the Sightline Institute‘s Weekly Score:

“Per person gas consumption on the Northwest’s roads and highways has fallen by nearly a tenth since the late 1990s. To put the recent declines in context: cutting gas consumption by nearly a tenth is equivalent to each driver taking a one-month holiday from driving each year.

At this point, the average resident of the US Northwest uses less gas than at any time since 1967.”

There’s a nice graph on the Sightline page illustrating this. It continues:

“Of course, the region’s population has increased, so the trend in total consumption isn’t quite as rosy: rather than declining, total consumption has remained roughly flat for the last 8 years or so. But even that represents a huge break from the preceding decade and a half, during which gas consumption rose roughly in tandem with population.”

“The bad news is that the broader energy trends tracked by the Scorecard aren’t doing so well. Diesel consumption is still on the rise, largely due to an increase in long-distance shipping. (We’re buying more stuff, and it’s coming from farther away.) And electricity consumption in homes and businesses apparently ticked upward last year – the third straight year of per capita increases.

The increases in diesel and electricity completely negated the decreases in gasoline consumption. So that gives us a good news/bad news story: good news in gasoline, and disappointing news for overall energy consumption.”

I like the good news aspect, to end the work week and the school year.