Fuel prices drive cars off road

If you thought traffic has been lighter this summer, you weren't imagining things.

Traffic counts at 16 different points across South Carolina showed fewer cars and trucks on the road this past July when compared with July 2007.

For example, an average of 1,200 fewer vehicles crossed the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge into Mount Pleasant each day in July compared with the year before, state Department of Transportation figures show.

The driving drop, which most everyone chalks up to sharply higher gas prices, brings its share of good and bad news.

On the plus side, there were far fewer traffic fatalities this past July than a year ago, and some motorists undoubtedly enjoyed having less traffic to fight, regardless of whether they realized it at the time.

On the flip side, gasoline stations and other car-related industries might have noticed a dip in sales, and the state government is reaping less in gasoline taxes, threatening to reduce road maintenance.

The traffic count figures didn't surprise experts, such as Carol Gifford with AAA Carolinas, whose surveys of motorists' driving plans predicted less travel by car.

"Throughout the summer, our travel numbers were down as they were nationally," Gifford said. "We weren't down as much as some other regions of the country. We're not sure why that is."

The average price of a gallon of unleaded was $3.89 in Charleston in July, up 40 percent from what motorists paid ($2.78 a gallon) a year ago, according to AAA's figures.

The state's traffic counts show that people seem to be cutting back most on long trips, not necessarily local trips.

Among the 16 sites surveyed, the biggest traffic drops were found along Interstate 95 in the Florence area and the Georgia-South Carolina border: Both saw traffic volume dip 8 percent this July compared with last.

That's in sharp contrast to Interstate 526 near Long Point Road in Mount Pleasant, which saw an average vehicle count of 46,300 a day in July — down only a tiny amount from the 46,351 per day average in July 2007. Traffic on Folly Road between Savannah Highway and Wappoo Creek was off only 2 percent.

As motorists drive less, they also bought less gas. The state received about $400,000 less in gas tax income in July 2008 than in July 2007, said Debra Rountree, deputy secretary for finance and administration with the state Department of Transportation.

And that's after it saw revenues dip about $2 million in June 2008 compared with the previous year because about 12 million fewer gallons were sold, according to S.C. Department of Revenue figures.

The Transportation Department, which maintains the state's roads and bridges, already has cut back travel, equipment purchases and other administrative expenses to focus its shrinking budget on road repair.

"We're trying not to alarm anybody yet," Rountree said. "We're proceeding cautiously and monitoring where we are."

The good news is that fewer cars on the road also may have led to fewer fatal traffic accidents.

The number of fatalities on South Carolina roads was 73 in July, down 25 percent from the previous year's total of 97.

The Lowcountry saw a similar dip: The number of fatalities in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties dropped from 13 in July 2007 to seven in July 2008.

The price of a gallon of gas in South Carolina has dropped about 42 cents since July 4, but Gifford and AAA Carolinas don't expect traffic to pick back up anytime soon.

"People have cut back on their driving and that will continue," she said, "because prices have not dropped enough to encourage people to drive a lot more."

Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771 or at rbehre@postandcourier.com.