Four Reasons You Should Continue to Conserve Gas

When gas prices are high- as much as $4 per gallon or more in recent months- many people turn to public transportation or carpooling to conserve gasoline and money.

Other thrifty strategies include bicycling to work, walking or biking for small shopping trips, and combining trips for maximum efficiency. If you just need a gallon of milk, for instance, you may be able to wear a backpack and cycle to a store a few blocks away instead of starting up your car. If you must take a car for errands, you can plan ahead for the most efficient route and combine several tasks so you don't have to make multiple trips, which wastes gas.

People can become very creative with these cost-saving strategies when gas prices are at the peak. When gas prices go down, you may be tempted to relax and abandon those frugal practices. However, there are many good reasons to continue carpooling and using other conserving practices, even when gas drops to half the prices we saw at the peak. Here are four good reasons.

One: Gas prices will inevitably go back up again. Because of the volatility of gas prices, it makes sense to get in the habit of conserving gas through carpooling, bicycling to the store and other strategies. It takes some effort to build a routine, and when you fall out of one, it's often hard to get back into the groove. Instead of abandoning those practices when gas prices dip, keep the habit going. When gas prices inevitably rise again, you won't have to make big changes, because you'll already have turned those positive money saving practices into a routine.

Two: Strategies that conserve gas often save you money in other ways. For instance, if you carpool with one or two other people, you're not only saving on gas expenses, but you're also saving on wear and tear on your car. Tires and other car parts will have to be replaced less often when you put fewer miles on your car. Even if you do most of the driving and so can't cut down on wear and tear, you can collect small donations from your riders and stick that money into a special rainy day savings account. Those few dollars will slowly build up over time and accumulate a little interest. If there comes a day when your car needs expensive repairs, you won't have to panic, because you'll have the emergency account ready for just this occasion.

Three: Gas saving strategies reduce traffic congestion. While your small group of carpoolers won't drastically affect the number of cars on the road in your area, wide-spread adoption of these strategies have the potential to have a big impact on road congestion. When more people choose to bicycle to work, take the bus or carpool, this reduces the amount of vehicles on the road and will make rush hour traffic a little easier for everyone. To achieve wider support for gas saving strategies, it's important that you spread the word about your carpool, good experiences with public transportation and safe bicycle routes with your friends and co-workers. Many times, people don't try carpooling or taking the bus because they're just not sure how to get started. If they get encouragement and firsthand advice from you, they may be more likely to take the plunge. You can point them to the carpool listings on craigslist.com or suggest they do a Web search for the phrase "ride share." In southeast Michigan, for instance, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments hosts a ride share program. Many other nonprofit ride share and vanpool organizations exist around the country, and it's easy to find out about them with a simple search of the Internet. If you know about an easy and safe route for biking to work or a really convenient bus route to the grocery store, you can share that with friends and co-workers, too.

Fourth: Conservation strategies often have side benefits unrelated to money. For instance, biking and walking more often will not only save gas and money but is also good for your physical and mental health. Carpooling can provide valuable time for getting to know your co-workers outside the office. Riding the bus may help you get to know your neighbors better and may expose you to parks, shops and other local attractions you'd missed.

If you've wanted to save money on gas but haven't put in the effort, now's the time to give it a try. If you've been carpooling or taking the bus, keep up the good work. Your small efforts may just pay off in big ways.