Petrol is very cheap????

GOOD TIMES FOR MASS TRANSIT

It's not rocket science. For many, a roundtrip bus or metro fare is easier to stomach than oil prices that in some places have reached new heights. Three quarters of Americans now believe more money should be spent on developing and improving mass transit systems, and cities are responding. Expansion and renovation projects are in the works for many cities in the US. Europe, meanwhile, is taking transit to the next level: Paris, which has been updating its light rail network, is installing energy-efficient trains on several Metro lines, while London plans to increase its system's overall capacity by 50 % by 2022.

LOWER OBESITY RATES

As fuel prices increase, bike shops across the US are reporting record sales, and Britain is even promoting a national "Bike Week" to encourage commuters to ride, not drive, to the office. Not only is two-wheeling a cheaper way to travel, it's also healthier. According to a research, for every dollar increase in the average real price of gas, overweight and obesity levels in the US would decline by 16 % after seven years. A study published in The Engineering Economist found that Americans today use nearly a billion additional gallons of gasoline each year, compared with 1960, solely because they weigh more.

DECREASE IN ACCIDENTS

Americans are driving at historic lows, according to a May US department of transportation report, and less driving means fewer accidents. And they may be driving slower and more cautiously, too. Ian Parry, a Senior Fellow at Resources for the Future, an energy think tank, says that while the effect would be modest, some people "will realise they can drive less aggressively" and conserve gas mileage.

SHORTER COMMUTES

Worry about rising gas prices has encouraged workers in the US to move closer to their jobs to cut costs and find alternate ways of travelling to work. And for many of those that still drive, less-packed roads are actually producing shorter commutes. While the change is by no means uniform, in some of the most congested areas of southern California, the average commute time has reportedly fallen by 5 or 6 minutes. In Europe, however, the effect has so far been the opposite, as striking truck drivers in Britain, Spain, and France have slowed or shut down entire highways to protest diesel prices.

SWITCH TO BIOFUELS

More of the world's fuel is coming from renewable energy sources instead of Middle East oil drums. Global production of biofuels—generally ethanol derived from corn, but also plant oils that produce bio diesel—roughly tripled from 2000 to 2007. Critics of biofuels point to studies indicating that the increasing diversion of cereal crops for biofuels production is driving up food prices around the world. Supporters counter that the answer isn't to give up on alternatives to gasoline, but to develop "next-generation" biofuels (think: switch grass and algae) that don't interfere with the food supply.