Fueling changes

Gas prices are altering driving habits.

By: Leon Tovey
   Michelle Kelly is suffering these days from a slight case of buyer’s remorse.
   Ms. Kelly, a Kingston resident, bought a 2006 Nissan Titan pickup with a V-8 engine a few months ago so she could haul her two teenagers — one of whom is 6 feet 5 inches tall — and their friends around.
   But with gas prices pushing $3 per gallon, Ms. Kelly said the next car she buys (which will probably be for her daughter, who will be driving soon) is definitely going to get better mileage than the 14 to 18 miles per gallon her new pickup gets.
   Gas prices in New Jersey are below the national average, but motorists in the Garden State have still seen a sharp jump in the past month. According to AAA, the average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline increased more than 47 cents since the beginning of April, from $2.409 to $2.874.
   While the average in South Brunswick is slightly lower — $2.837, up from $2.369 a month ago, according to AAA — residents who spoke to the South Brunswick Post on Wednesday said they are still feeling the pinch.
   Ms. Kelly said she’s seen her fuel bill jump from $50 per tank to $65 per tank in the last few weeks. The increase has made her re-evaluate the trips she makes in her new car, she said.
   "I do try and take it into consideration," she said Wednesday afternoon outside the Shop&Stop on Route 1. "I really think twice of running to the store to pick up something."
   Basem Hassan, 35, of Monmouth Junction, said that while he and his wife both drive more fuel-efficient, 4-cylinder cars, they have also tried to cut back on their driving.
   "I’m not going out on pointless car rides anymore," he said Wednesday morning outside the Dunkin’ Donuts on Route 522 in Dayton. "My wife and I used to go, ‘hey, I wonder what Baltimore’s like,’ and jump in the car. Obviously we don’t do that now.
   "It’s forced us to kind of organize our driving," he said.
   Other residents said the increases are making them think twice about summer travel plans. Carolyn Rocca, 54, a resident of the Monmouth Mobile Home Park, said she and her husband, who have relatives in Pennsylvania and Brooklyn, N.Y., respectively, are putting their travel plans on hold until the fall.
   "We usually plan to go visit a couple times each summer, but we’ll wait this year," she said as she loaded her groceries into her car outside the Stop&Shop on Route 1. "We have older, mid-sized cars — and we can’t afford to buy something more fuel efficient, so we just have to budget."
   Ms. Rocca said she and her husband are also much more conscious about how many driving trips they make around town and have curtailed their monthly entertainment expenses; where they used to eat out at least once a week, now they make it once a month or so, she said.
   The effect of this new driving consciousness has taken its toll on local business owners as well.
   Pierre Hage-Boutros, owner of Pierre’s of South Brunswick on Georges Road in Dayton, said the increase in gas prices has hit his business — both by keeping customers away and driving up his suppliers’ prices.
   "People don’t come out as much," Mr. Hage-Boutros said Wednesday afternoon. "And when our deliveries come we have to pay a surcharge."
   Several of Mr. Hage-Boutros lunchtime customers Wednesday echoed the businessman’s sentiments.
   "I don’t go out for lunch as often as I did before," said Bob Certo of Piscataway. "I started bringing my lunch to work. Also, I plan on going on fewer trips this summer."
   Mr. Certo said that he also takes fewer trips when he goes out shopping. He said that he tries to make one trip out to hit as many places as possible before returning home. Paul Sonatore, also of Piscataway, said that the only change he has made is the way he pays for gas.
   "I charge it on a credit card that I get 5 percent back on," Mr. Sonatore said. "I don’t pay for it with cash anymore."
   But Wally Milbrod of North Brunswick said he doesn’t have a great deal of sympathy for people who complain about high gas prices. A retiree and widower who drives a relatively fuel-efficient Nissan sedan, Mr. Milbrod admitted that it’s easier for him to avoid driving a lot than for a younger person with a family, but he said people bring some of their difficulties on themselves.
   "People will complain about the price of gas, but they’ll pay $8 a gallon for bottled water," he said, pointing out that a liter of name-brand bottled water goes for as much as $2 at some places.
   "You look at the cars some people are driving," he continued. "If you can go out and spend $70,000 for a Cadillac Escalade, you’re not going to complain much about gas, right?"
Staff Writer Joseph Harvie contributed to this report.