Motorists on track to drive less in year

Shell customer Larry Syres fills up his Smart car in Palo Alto, Calif., yesterday. Syres says he averages 42 miles per gallon. His tank holds 8.7 gallons. (Paul Sakuma/Associated Press)

WASHINGTON - US motorists, paying record prices for gasoline, drove less for a seventh consecutive month in May, pointing toward the first annual drop in road travel since 1980.

"Four dollars per gallon may have been the trigger point we've been looking for," said Kenneth McGill, managing director for travel and tourism at consulting firm Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Mass. "It's interesting to see Americans finally reacting to the price of gasoline by rationing consumption."

Vehicle-miles traveled on all US roads fell 3.7 percent in May from a year earlier, the Federal Highway Administration said in a report yesterday. The seven-month slide is the longest streak since 1979, agency spokesman Doug Hecox said.

Americans cut back as the average US retail gasoline price reached a then-record of $3.98 a gallon on May 31. Rising fuel prices and a weak economy also marked the drop in driving in 1980, after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and US Embassy personnel in Iran were taken hostage.

May's travel decline pushed this year's total down 2.4 percent, according to the Washington highway agency, which has been reporting the data since 1942.

Driving decreased in all five regions for which the agency tallies results, led by a 4.5 percent drop in the north-central United States, which includes Chicago. May's 254.7 billion miles driven were the lowest for the month since 2003.

Gas prices in Massachusetts dropped 8 cents in the last week, and a gallon now averages less than $4 for the first time since early June.

A statewide survey released yesterday by AAA of Southern New England found an average price of $3.95 a gallon for self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline. That's 13 cents lower than three weeks ago, and in keeping with the national average. A year ago, the average price for a gallon of gas in Massachusetts was $2.86.

Gasoline at US pumps averaged as high as $4.11 this month before slipping to $3.96 Sunday, according to AAA. Spending more on fuel leaves consumers with less for other goods and services.

The report on driving adds to evidence of a slowing US economy already beset by the worst housing market since the Great Depression.