Gas prices have once again reached record highs. How many times in the past few years have we heard this? The cost of filling up the tank is about 75% higher than it was two years ago. When prices first spiked in after Hurricane Katrina in September 2005, people went online to find the cheapest gas stations in the area and find out more about fuel economy, at sites like GasBuddy.com and FuelEconomy.gov. Now it seems inevitable – saving a dollar or two doesn’t seem worth the cost of driving a few extra miles. Despite the astronomical cost of filling up the tank, the volume of searches for ‘gas prices’ and ‘hybrid cars’ for the week ending May 12, 2007 were respectively 92% and 82% lower than during the week ending September 3, 2005. According to the US Energy Information Administration, the average US price for a gallon of regular gasoline, all formulations, was $3.07/gallon for the week of September 5, 2005, an did not surpass that level again until the week of May 14, 2007, when it was $3.10/gallon.
You can see on the chart below that with each subsequent gas price hike after September 2005, searchers were less interested in going online for information. Visits to GasBuddy.com and FuelEconomy.gov, two of the leading sites receiving traffic from those terms, showed a similar pattern. It appears that we’ve reached a point of apathy, and have grudgingly accepted the cost of driving.