Americans cut down on summer driving: survey

Traffic is seen driving along a main road in Beijing July 20, 2008.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans' legendary love of the open road appeared to be on the wane this summer as they confronted escalating fuel prices and a weakening economy.

Demand for gasoline in the world's biggest oil consumer plummeted by 3.9 percent this summer driving season compared with a year ago, according to a Wednesday report from MasterCard Advisors.

The summer driving season traditionally lasts from Memorial Day in late May to Labor Day in early September.

Average gasoline prices last week stood at $3.66 per gallon, down from highs above $4 per gallon earlier this summer, but still about 33 percent above year-ago prices.

With gasoline prices so high, retail sales at the pumps have dropped by 2.5 percent so far this year compared with the same period last year, the MasterCard report said.

As gasoline prices soared, Americans have found a myriad of ways to deal with the high prices -- from taking the train to car-pooling to simply staying at home.

"Staycations," or vacations at home, have become a trend as Americans attempt to go easy on their wallets.

Fewer Americans traveled during Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day, the three major travel holidays of the summer, according to a survey by travel and auto group AAA.

Americans appear to be cutting down on day-to-day travel as well. Since last November, U.S. drivers have driven 53.2 billion fewer miles than they did during the same period the previous year, a drop in driving larger than that seen during the 1970s oil crisis.

Increases in mass-transit use might be partly be responsible for the decline in driving. Mass transit use reached a 50-year high last year as motorists took buses and trains to save on gasoline, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

(Editing by Matthew Lewis)