[dukey]

http://www.theoildrum.com/story/2005/10/22/235239/89

[Leanan]

I was just reading that. Pretty interesting, that there's such a direct correlation between miles driven and GDP. It suggests that there's going to be a whole lotta pain if we actually have to cut back on driving.

[dukey]

exactly

[Wildwell]

Assuming no alternatives exist. In metropolitian areas, where they do exist, the is no link between GDP and driving.

http://www.cfit.gov.uk/research/worldci ... report.pdf

Page 17

Telecommuting and the internet will have a much bigger role to play in the future.

There is much less of a link elsewhere.

http://www.sustainable-development.gov. ... upling.pdf

An even more direct link is between disposable income and car miles. Meaning, when people have more money to spend they travel more.

[BabyPeanut]

It's interesting that the chart

shows an admittedly short-term condition with driving down and GDP up. Are the GDP numbers being manipulated?

Also this chart

how much of that is "warehouse on wheels" effect now?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_4_36/ai_n6006917]Warehouse on wheels (link)[/url]
Washington Monthly

Virginia highway officials designed Interstate 81--it's the main highway through the Shenandoah Valley--to accommodate traffic that is 15 percent trucks. Trucks are now 40 percent of the traffic, reports USA Today's Fred Bayles, who adds that "over the past two decades, the number of long-haul trucks has doubled" and "is expected to double again" by 2020...

[Leanan]

I think Wal-Mart and other companies who have built their business models on cheap oil (just-in-time delivery, "rolling warehouse," etc.) are going to be hurtin' fer certain as energy prices rise. Their distribution centers are far from ports and stores, their stores in the middle of nowhere, and they only keep 3 days' worth of inventory in stock. It's a recipe for disaster.