San Diego Housing Bubble News and Analysis

My own experience is that slowing down on the freeway isn't going to make a lot of difference. The main way to cut back is to significantly reduce the overall quantity of driving. ie, don't commute 40 miles each way to work and back. By limiting my commute to about 5 miles each way really helps.

XBoxBoy

Slowing down to the speed limit can make a huge difference especially if you drive a vehicle with poor aerodynamics (SUV). Every 5 mph over 65 mph will decrease your fuel efficiency by 7% on average. I used to drive 70-75 mph (when possible) and now that I've slowed down to 65 mph I've seen the fuel economy of my CR-V increase from 23.5 mpg to 26 mpg.

Another change that can greatly increase your fuel economy is to drive more smoothly, giving yourself space in traffic so you don't have to brake and accelerate as much. This saves me a lot of gas driving to work on the 805, though it doesn't seem like many subscribe to this theory. Most speed up to the car in front of them, tailgate, slam on the brakes, change lanes and repeat... then when I exit I see the same cars turning right on Mira Mesa Blvd so it doesn't really get you far.

have u guys started slowing down or is it just me and a few coworkers.

Yes, but it's to avoid getting nasty tickets ever since they increased patrols on I56 rather than saving fuel.

 You're car's aerodynamics/weight has a lot more to do with it, which you really can't change. Also, you burn a lot of fuel from harsh accelerations, redlining, driving WOT frequently, which people don't really do (well at least most people don't do).

Personally, I'm trying to keep things lately on I56 to avoid the dreaded +20mph speeding tickets that don't usually allow traffic school, though interestingly in SD, they still let you go to traffic school if on the freeway you end up get clocked above 85 but below 100. Guess we need the revenue.

selfportrait

----- Sour grapes for everyone!

maybe most people dont have a long don't commute 40 miles each way to work and back.

but i do. also my  avg mile per gallon goes up at one constant speed 65-70mph. but i do have to leave 10-15 min early to get to work on time. going home i drive 65 and get home 15 mins later than driving 75 to 80.

also drive in the second lane so you dont have to slow down while cars are merging on to the freeway.

also drive in the second lane so you dont have to slow down while cars are merging on to the freeway.

Except hopefully you don't end up frustrating people that want to do 70+ on a two-laned road by not having they courtesy to yield to the right on approaching faster traffic.. because you end up making them brake to slow down, lane change, speed up again... Californians are terrible at this, and I wish this were a law about yielding to the right, like in some other states.

selfportrait

----- Sour grapes for everyone!

yes. only on a major freeway drive in the second lane.

use comon sense if all lanes are driving 80 dont slow down traffic by driving 65 you should be driving 75 in order to keep traffic flowing smoothly.

 just watch the big rig trucks, they speed up when they have to so they dont get cut off by, road rage drivers.

I've been doing these supposedly new fuel maximizing tips since I started driving at 16 and get 30mpg with my car, but I'm still getting burned by these prices. I don't drive during rush hour either and its only 13 miles to work each day. If this is hurting me, I can't even imagine how bad it is for those SUV drivers with long commutes.

I agree with everyone’s responses so far.

Being a scientist, I’ve been conducting my on experiment in fuel economy with my own cumbersome SUV.

My data is in, I’ve increased the fuel efficiency of my 2001 Ford Escape from 18mpg to whopping 23mpg. How?

1. Leave 10 minutes earlier

2. Drive 60-65 mph (# 3 lane, slow lane, not the
on ramp/off ramp lane)

3. Use the cruise control to maintain consistency

4. Drive with windows up on freeway (increase
aerodynamics)

5. Drive smarter (accelerate slower, coast more in
city traffic)

I’ll add that once I got used to people tailing me and swerving around me on the freeway, my stress level decreased greatly. I’m in the slow lane, they can always go around, that’s what passing lanes are for.

Also, when I drive this way more people get a good look at my “STOP THE MORTGAGE BAILOUT” bumper sticker….

On a side note, I’m not proud of driving such a fuel inefficient auto, but I’ve got over 100,000 miles on it – I’m hoping by the time I drive it into the ground in a few more years, the trend toward more fuel efficient vehicles will have increased dramatically.

maybe most people dont have a long don't commute 40 miles each way to work and back.

but i do. also my avg mile per gallon goes up at one constant speed 65-70mph. but i do have to leave 10-15 min early to get to work on time. going home i drive 65 and get home 15 mins later than driving 75 to 80.

I'm calling BS on this. Using the two extremes of your example I calculate nowhere near a 15 minute difference.

40 miles at 80 mph = 30 minutes
40 miles at 65 mph = 37 minutes

 dnbreaks I'm calling BS on this. Using the two extremes of your example I calculate nowhere near a 15 minute difference

wtf ok math genuis

i drive  aprox 50 miles from ib to front gate at camp pendelton then driving on the base is about 13 miles 

63 miles right!

ok this is where the varable is in place if i drive the speed limt on the base which vary 35mph 45 ,55, 45, 35, 45 including the lights it takes 20 min to  get to work if i speed by 5mph i wont get pulled over so i increase my speed to 11 -15 mins.

20 min on base

40 min on highway at 65 = 1hour

10 -15 min on base

30 min on highway at 80-85, road rage cut your ass of without a signal (brake and slow down)=45 min (no accidents)= 45 min

so driving freeway with constant speed = 1hour

i have made it home in a half hour before but the freeway has to be empty 1200-300 am

I have changed my driving habits.

I am no longer driving my Silverado to work(10 miles one way). I am riding my Harley Sportster. I get 45 miles a Gallon on the bike instead of 15 for the Truck. Over a year, I save about $1200 in gas by riding the bike.

I am so glad I live close to work.

This is such a timely topic. I actually just changed my driving habits a few weeks ago as well and using my onboard computer (measures AVG MPG, current MPG, etc), I have noticed a decent improvement. I used to get 19-20 MPG, but here are my numbers so far when driving between 65-70 mph:

In 2 fuel fillups, I've gotten:
1st: 23.9 MPG (no aircon, about 30 psi tire pressure)
2nd: 22.2 MPG (lots of aircon the past week, raised tire pressure to 34 psi midway)

I've read that using your aircon doesn't matter too much when compared with an open window due to aerodynamic drag.

My 3rd fuel up should be interesting with no aircon and the higher tire pressure.

One good unintended thing with driving slow is it decreases road stress since people can pass me all they want and I don't get as annoyed now.

"use comon sense if all lanes are driving 80 dont slow down traffic by driving 65 you should be driving 75 in order to keep traffic flowing smoothly."

Huh? I'll drive 65, thank you. If someone wants to go faster, there are PASSING LANES. It's not like I'm in the fast lane, or driving 35.

I work downtown and tried the Coaster for a few weeks as a cost v time experiment. I live about 8 miles from the Sorrento Valley station and 9 from Solana Beach. Since SB has better parking, I drove the extra mile.

Here's the results:

Cost Savings - at 45 mi RT, driving costs me about $25.75 per day which includes parking at my building. Taking the train costs about $ 14.80 including driving miles to the station.

Time Savings - driving door to door is about 30 minutes w/o traffic. Door to door via train is about 2 hours.

So on a normal day, I would spend an extra 3 hours commuting to save $10.95. In other words, I am paying myself an extra $3.65/hr for those three hours to ride the train. This is not quite the incentive I was looking for.

Vagabond do you exclude the amount of driving from your house to the Coaster station? That is 8 or 9 miles...

Where are you Penasquitos?

Regardless of one's budget for gasoline, there is one thing this country should learn. If you are in the "FAST" lane on the freeway doing 65 mph....get out of there - if you like driving slower - move to the right. If someone wants to burn gas/diesel allow them to drive faster......I am stunned how many times I'm behind a minivan in the fast lane - it creates a mile long line....and the "driver" is clueless........BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS (traffic)...

I bet these drivers would last 10 min on the road anywhere else in this world......(to be kind of course).

I guess this should go under the pet peeves trend....but it's somewhat related

First, Public Transit in San Diego doesn't suck. It doesn't do anything more or less than NY's transit system. The problem with San Diego is the land-use designation that it serves. How can anyone provide accessible transit in county that prides itself on suburban sprawl. What a joke.

If voters started placing people in office that would help build this city out of their cars, we might one day have an option. I fortunately live in the mid-city area where I can take the bus into downtown to work everyday. It works fine for me and my $65.00 a month monthly pass is hardly a tax on the wallet.

The bottomline is, not matter how high gas prices go, people in america still have to drive because no one pays any attention to why they are actually stuck in their car. One day, those that live in Poway, RB, Escondido, Carlsbad and commute to Downtown or Sorrento Valley, will figure it out. Move closer to your job and shop in your neighborhood.

Lastly, don't think Hybrids are the answer, until you find a place to put all the 6-year old lition Ion batteries that cannot be recycled.

CardiffBaseball, the train numbers include drive time (door to door). I live in Santa Luz.

"First, Public Transit in San Diego doesn't suck. It doesn't do anything more or less than NY's transit system. The problem with San Diego is the land-use designation that it serves. How can anyone provide accessible transit in county that prides itself on suburban sprawl. "

sorry i total disagree you can go an where in the 5 boroughs of new york and be with in blocks of public transportation maybe if you look at at a nyc transit (bus and train) map this would change your opinion on san diego transit system which only has trasportation in the major work ,housing zones.

in very simple terms.

YOU DONT NEED A CAR IN NYC! In san diego you really do. oh  how do you feel when a bum who is crazy,smells and talk to him or her self comes and sit right next to you.i will tell you what when my car broke down and i had to use sd transportation i was like, thank god i dont have to do this everyday. granted i used nyc trains and buses for about 20 years so i know public transportation SUCKS.

id  rather drive in a crap load of traffic anyday.than have to stand for on hour on a train or bus. i feel  sorry for people that have to ride on a bus or trolley due to economics,not by choice.

Tucker,

I get what you're saying, but just think of it like this for a second. NYC is compact urban development with densities above 60,000 per city block. When you put that many people in the same area it's much easier and cost effective to provide the type of service people need at a lower cost.

Think about it in these terms. A bus travels down Poway Rd or say a subway system travel under poway rd and has a station right at the end of the Cul-de-sac somewhere in Poway. How many single family homes do you think are within walking distance of that stop. Likely about 25. Then you start to push peoples walk beyond a 1/4-mile, beyond what most like to walk.

Now take a step back. What is the chance that all 25 of those houses are commuting or heading to the same exact location during the AM commute? If you have 25 different destinations, how do you get a subway system at $6,000,000 a mile construction cost to service all 25 effectively and efficiently? How many billion dollar lines do you have to build to serve those 25 people, whom are all heading in different directions? You don’t because suburbia is designed around the automobile. It locks you into your car with no alternative. You are stuck.

Now on the other end of the route, the destination end of the trip. Say you're headed to sorrento valley. Where would it drop you off? what office building and how direct could it get you there without serving the other 25 people first. How much would that cost to build, operate, and maintain a service of that nature? Off of 1/6 of 1cent sales tax that is dedicated to transit service in San Diego, you could never do it.

New York City.

Now, like I said before. New York City has a avg density between 70k and 90k per city block, a significant contrast compared to Poway’s and other San Diego Suburban environments of 5 per hectar. With densities in NY, it's more complicated to find a parking space, more costly too. A subway line that costs a million a mile and connects to a grid of other service more effectively service many to many trip destination. It also cost effectively provides a network of transit service that you can transfer between and still get to your destination without needing to walk too far at on the destination end of your trip. The best part of New York is that it is flat. So when you get to the end of the subway line, without your car, even if your office is three or four blocks, you can walk it.. IF a trolley dropped you off in Sorrento valley 3 or 4 blocks from your office, you'd have to traverse and cross four 8-lane arterial roads risking your life, walk in the street because of a lack of sidewalks and then once you got to your office, hike through a parking lot built for 1,000 cars.

Lastly, mass transit is expensive to provide. It costs roughly $5.00 a mile for a bus route. Compound the mileage of a route, every trip it makes during the day and throughout the year, and the operating cost sky rocket. Say you have a Route that is 32-mile long (one-way) and there are 77-round trips a day, 365 days a year. This will cost you for one route about $9 million a year. With a 33% fare box recovery ratio (the amount people actually pay on a route when the get on the bus by paying a fare), the route still requires an annual subsidy of around $6-million a year to operate. So try to do this to every block in Poway, Escondido, Mira Mesa, etc.. on the cheap of 1/6th of 1-cent for every dollar spent on sales tax. Cost are probably even more now with rising fuel costs. Even though people pay a fare, it hardly covers the full cost to provide the service. Why, because in San Diego, you pick up two or three people every so many miles in between so much sprawl,

The bottom-line is, until land-use designation changes and become more dense, and more San Diegians start to realize that they are stuck in their cars, we’ll all be stuck in our cars forever.