Road trips: $4 gas adds up to fewer miles

Jarred Bridgeman has a tradition of driving from his home in Detroit Lakes to St. Paul for the State Fair each August. He won't be going this year.

The tipping point was $4-a-gallon gas.

"The price has quadrupled in just over 10 years," he said. "Everybody has to find a way to make up for the expense. We're going to be taking fewer road trips."

The road trip is an ingrained part of the national culture, but it appears that the price of gas is finally making a dent in the behavior of American vacationers.

In May, the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) reported a 4.3 percent drop in "vehicle miles traveled" (VMT) for March. It was the fifth consecutive month of decline, and the largest single month drop since the FHA started keeping track of VMT about 60 years ago. The reduction for March -- 11 billion miles -- is more dramatic even than the drops in traffic in 1979, when an oil embargo and spiking prices created long lines at gas stations, said Doug Hecox, a spokesman for the FHA.

"I am calling it a baby trend for now," Hecox said. "The next couple of months' numbers will show if it's statistically defensible."

VMT covers all types of road travel -- not the road trip in particular -- but surveys that track Americans' vacation plans echo the FHA report.

Dawn Duffy, spokesperson for AAA Minneapolis, said that even the 1 percent decrease in road trips predicted by her organization represented "a lot of trips" and that a change of attitude in the traveling public is very real.

"People are extremely conscious of what every single thing costs," she said. "It's not just gas, it's hotels and food. So they're packing the cooler, looking for economy hotels and special deals."

Polly Keith Scott of Bemidji said the fuel costs have not slowed her down. In May, she and her daughter went on a 3,000-mile odyssey to Ohio and Michigan in Scott's Toyota Corolla, which gets about 38 miles per gallon.

"We camped every night, and cooked on a little stove," said Scott, 56. "We're pretty frugal. That's part of the adventure, too."

Even Jarred Bridgeman, who canceled his State Fair trip, isn't giving up a summer vacation. "We're going to drive to Medora (N.D.) because my wife hasn't been there yet. We're just cutting back."

Many resorts and inns across the country and in Minnesota are offering gas cards and discounts to lure travelers who want to save money.

Since last fall, the Embracing Pines Bed and Breakfast in Walker, 185 miles north of the Twin Cities, has been offering $25 in gas to any guests who stay at least two nights.

"So far, only four people have taken us up on it, but our busy season is just starting now," said co-owner Charlyne LaVoie. "We're hoping there isn't much impact from the gas costs because a lot of our guests come from the Cities."

Amy Herzog of Golden Valley said that her family would be scaling back on expenses, but not on the travel. She and her two children are leaving next week on a nine-day trip that will take them to Memphis and Nashville in Tennessee.

"There is no way I would consider stopping going on a road trip," said Herzog, 42. "It's too much a part of what I consider a vacation."

Luisa Badaracco of Minneapolis said that car travel remains more economical and more fun than air travel. Badaracco, 22, drove to Nashville with her boyfriend this spring. "It took 13 hours each way ... and still the cost was less than what one roundtrip ticket to Nashville would have cost."

Scott Schluter of Minneapolis is among those who is gritting his teeth and going on vacation regardless. He's taking his family of four to Oregon this summer. They're flying to Seattle and renting a car. "Standing there at the pump watching the numbers spin -- it's such a visible reminder of money going out of your pocket," he said. "But when you have a chance to spend uninterrupted time with your family, you're going to take it."