In Melbourne you would notice a big difference,
if anything - the traffic conjestion has grown
worse. Cars, every where you look, at any time
of the day or night.

Since the Eastlink opened up, traffic on
suburban streets has increased. It's bumper-to-bumper,
even in off-peak periods.

Motorists now tend to buy their petrol on
"Cheaper Days." (usually, Mondays, Tuesdays,
and Wednesdays), and if you've got a voucher -
it's cheaper still.

Tourism in this city doesn't seem affected at all.
So far at least.
I'm seriosuly thinking of investing in either
a bicycle or a skooter.

OOOOPS, my apologies for the typo.
I meant to say, "seriously." :)

My grand daughter and her partner run a motel in Alice Springs. Business I'm told is booming. It's not their best year, but they are still doing very well indeed. They rely on the tourist/motorist trade, especially the Adelaide to Darwin drivers. It seems people are still using their cars for long distance tourism, despite the very high NT petrol prices.

I travel about 400 klm a day at work.
On the NSW Pacific highway and New England.
I worked on the Pacific for 22 years.
Winter traffic has never been so slow.
My intention in the thread was to highlight possible long term changes in the way we use fuel.
And the impacts on us all.
Not fuel prices or oil shortages but real impacts as a result of prices.
Less than 40 klm from the coast and 250 from Sydney my area is usually flooded with wintering Victorians, caravan parks and such are suffering.
National discount supermarket chains are charging 7 cents more for all fuels on the coast than they charge 40 klm inland?
A brand new service center closed its doors after 3 months, others have seen large multi national food sellers close and fuel prices well above average as they fight to stay in business.
There are impacts we will see more.
I am sure most will agree fuel would need to be under a dollar be for we stop considering it too expensive.
The silent road is awesome only the sound of speeding trucks trying to get an extra load in this week to pay fuel cost they can not raise rates to cover is heard.

Dear Belly,

Rising prices of oil is a result of the current
instability in Iraq and Iran. Oil companies and
Governments are not about to lose their big
profits or revenue. Until the US wakes up and
negotiates with the Arab oil producing countries
the situation will never stabilize.

In the meantime our Government is proposing fuel
watch which might marginally assist the transport
industry but not the average motorist.

In Melbourne, Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays,
petrol is on average 15 cents cheaper than the rest
of the week. With fuel watch, that benefit would be
lost and the weekly price would be averaged out which
would be the equivalent of the Government proposed
fuel watch.

Sensible planning of trips eliminating duplication,
fuel purchases on the cheaper days, would financially
benefit the average motorist. Unfortunately, the
transport industry does not have the luxury of such
planning.

The Government could introduce a service of employment
trading, where workers of identical work interests could
trade places for jobs closer to their homes thus reducing
travel times, road conjestion, and petrol expense and
pollution. In the US it is quite acceptable for people
to chase employment cross-country and re-locate for that
purpose. We could try that here. That would minimise long
distance travel to work and could possibly allow people
to live closer to places where they previously enjoyed
spending their holidays. For example, people could move to
Brisbane to work because they enjoyed holidays on the Gold
Coast.

Of course the problem lies in persuading people to change
their lifestyles, which as we know can be difficult.

Its a beautiful sunny day the silence on the road out the front remains.
Traffic should be near heavy but it is near non existent.
What ever the reason we are in interesting times.
I do not see a return to how it was even ten years ago.
Fuel is unlikely to fall below a dollar, at that price it is no longer a throw away product.
Half our country towns need tourists.
Our small highway towns run on it.
In time smaller new fuel cars will bring back the Sunday drive, not yet.
peak oil over taxed or any conflict we are not seeing a return to days now gone.
May I ask what in the world bought oil down to todays prices?
Or for that matter what took them to $147?