Yep, higher gas prices still keep us driving less

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

With gas prices holding at record levels above $4 a gallon, Americans are driving less and abandoning gas-guzzling vehicles.

Americans drove 1.4 billion fewer highway miles in April compared with April ’07, and 400 million fewer miles than they did in March, the Department of Transportation said.

With Americans also opting for more fuel-efficient vehicles, gasoline demand is likely to decline in 2008 for the first time in 17 years, Cambridge Energy Research Associates said Thursday.

Gas prices inched 0.2 cent higher to a national average of $4.075 a gallon Friday.

Gasoline is taxed at 18.4 cents a gallon, while diesel fuel is taxed at 24.4 cents a gallon.

But with Americans driving less, the U.S. needs to find a “more sustainable and effective way” to fund the nation’s highways, DOT Secretary Mary Peters said.