ENERGYTOMORROW RADIO - EPISODE 8
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PODCAST SUMMARY
This episode features host John Bisney, API chief economist John Felmy and API fuels issues manager Al Mannato as they answer and discuss questions submitted through EnergyTomorrow.org and API.org. The discussion covers a variety of topics, including how to store gasoline, refinery expansion, gasoline prices and more.
SHOW NOTES
00:12 Host John Bisney introduces his guests: President and CEO of The American Highway Users Alliance, Greg Cohen, and API Director of Member Relations, Denise McCourt.
00:22 Introduces study conducted by Texas Transportation Institute regarding commuting patterns in the U.S.
00:42 Background of study – found in 1982, Americans wasted $15 billion in wasted time and fuel because of traffic congestion. In 2005, it is up to $78 billion, and it keeps getting worse.
01:35 What cities top the list, overall?
01:43 Worst cities, in terms of wasted fuel?
02:20 Individual drivers - waste an average of 38 hours in traffic congestion.
02:35 Gallons wasted due to traffic congestion equals about 26 gallons per driver. Worse in certain areas: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta and San Diego top the list.
03:07 According to the American Highway Users Alliance, what should be done about this?
03:48 Motorists pay gasoline taxes, some of which goes into a highway trust fund.
03:59 How much money per gallon goes to state and federal taxes?
04:28 Different states pay different amounts in taxes – different gasoline prices.
04:48 How is this tax revenue spent?
05:34 Minneapolis bridge collapse brought more attention to the problem.
06:00 When motorists fill up, how much money does the average motorist pay in taxes for each dollar they spend on gasoline?
06:41 Would building more roadways really help?
07:30 Major consequence of traffic congestion is wasted fuel. What can commuters do to increase their own fuel efficiency?
09:20 To sum up, motorists can do simple things on their own to help improve their fuel economy. Also, some of the money we pay for gasoline goes into a government fund, and the government has the responsibility to improve road infrastructures to ease congestion.