Income vs. Gas Prices, an Update

Edmunds.com, which released an analysis saying that about 60 vehicles in the new-vehicle market now cost over $100 to fill up, also gave an update on how gas prices are grabbing more of consumers’ incomes. Edmunds says the median household is spending 11.5% of its income on gasoline, up from 4.6% of its income five years ago. Here’s a look at how that progressed:

Date* Price Per Gallon (1) Median Income (2) Income spend on fuel (3)
1991 $1.09 $30,126 4.9%
1995 $1.14 $34,076 4.6%
1999 $1.19 $40,696 4.0%
2003 $1.51 $43,318 4.8%
2007 $2.96 $48,201 8.4%
2008 $4.06 $48,201 11.5%

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Jim Nichols
A Speculative Fiction
www.JimNichols4.com

transportation... "the market approach"

If your in GA! Important transportation bill

I just got a call today from someone at the Sierra Club. We have an important bill coming to the house on Thursday on Transportation funding. We need people to make this call. Don't like sitting in traffic, don't like gas going up and up and up? Make the call today. Ask your Rep. to support the bill.
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For the first time in GA, the proposed Macon-Atlanta-Athens commuter rail line has the potential to become a reality! This session, we are seeing for the first time in the history of our state, a real solution to fund better transit and a more efficient, balanced system. With our projected population growth and worsening air quality, transit is the only way we can get ourselves out of traffic and get on with our lives. RAIL-based transit provides permanent congestion relief and offers countless economic benefits. Please call your Representatives about this issue, and encourage them to vote YES on Thursday to S.R. 845, funding for transit. To find out who your reps are and to read a sample script, please look below. Then, please forward any responses from State Representatives you get so we can work on getting them on board and track votes!

· CALL YOUR REP TODAY TO SUPPORT SR 845 FOR BETTER TRANSIT! This is the first real opportunity we have seen in GA to change our outdated Constitutional definition of transportation as “roads and bridges” to something more effective and effeicient. SR 845, which allows for real funding for transit, has already passed the Senate. SR 845 would support projects like the proposed Macon to Atlanta to Athens commuter rail. We need it to pass the House.

· Link to find your Georgia State Representative: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/officials/congress/?district=05&lvl=C&azip=30309&state=GA

· SAMPLE SCRIPT:

o "Hi Representative (Jones), my name is (Nate) and I'm tired of this terrible traffic. It's killing our state's competitiveness and it's killing us. Atlanta has been ranked worse than Los Angeles as far as traffic-related air quality goes, and we now have the longest projected commute in the United States (http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/05/list_of_usas_lo.html). Asthma, directly linked to the pollution from cars, is now the number one reason for absenses in Atlanta Public Schools; over 50% of climate-change causing carbon emissions in GA come from vehicle trafffic. I support a better way. I support SR 845 and encourage you to PASS IT NOW. Include support for all forms of transportation, as well as operations expenses and incorporation of the remaining 1% of our current gas tax. Will you vote YES for SR 845 on Thursday? Yes or No. Thank you."

· Please send all contact information (did they say YES? No? Know nothing about it? Want more information?) to erin.glynn@sierraclub.org to we can guage support for this monumental transit funding bill.

Important transportation funding report to be released...

Looks like the Joint Study Committee on Transportation funding report will be released Wed according to Rep. Steve Davis

Chairman Vance Smith of the House Transportation Committee has called a meeting for next Wed at 3pm. No agenda has been set but I am guessing that we can anticipate the findings and suggestions of the Joint Study Committee on Transportation Funding to be realeased at this meeting. The Speaker has suggested in the last couple of days that he is going to push for a solution this year. I am anxious to see the end result of the Study Committee as any solution they bring forward will include a multi-billion dollar tax increase. I hope there is several efficiency and consolidation bills that are also suggested. Rumors are flying to what we will be proposed including the actual elimination of the 7.5 cent set excise tax for motor fuel and replace it with an indexed tax. The other rumors are simply keeping what we have and adding the bills that were proposed last year: Statewide SPLOST Sales tax for transportation and Regional SPLOST. I am not sure what the Speaker is supporting at this point but judging by his comments to the press he is apparently in support of a referndum vote for November on whatever plan is brought forth.