Results tagged “gasprices”

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner might finally make its first flight this month after two years of delays. The plans for the Dreamliner--a carbon composite aircraft that is lighter and more fuel-efficient--were first announced in 2005 and slated for takeoff in 2007. After four embarrassing delays due to production problems and a labor strike, Chief Executive James McNerney said last week that the aircraft would take flight in June.

As the busiest travel day of the year - Wednesday - approaches, Chicagoans look like they're going to be blessed by two things: good weather and lower gas prices. While Chicago has had the highest average gas price in the nation the last few years, the nation's gas price drop has reached us. So low, in fact, that some stations have regular unleaded actually below the current national average of $1.98. The lower prices come as the price of a barrel of oil has dropped from $147 a barrel in July to under $50 a barrel currently, as close to a silver lining as you'll find in the current economic crisis. Though this paragraph from the AP story certainly got our attention: "Some 'peak oil' adherents view the theory as an incentive to work harder on alternative energy. Others claim it's too late for that, and forecast an apocalyptic future in which industrial society and the global marketplace give way to local micro-economies with backyard farms, abandoned malls and marauding hordes." Um...Happy Holidays, everyone!

Maybe you will be able to afford the drive to Aunt Mabel's for Thanksgiving dinner in Fon du Lac after all - the price of crude oil continues to drop, and we're slowly starting to see the effects trickle down throughout the Chicagoland area. The Bright One spoke with energy analyst Phil Flynn, who said that demand is down and supplies are increasing as refiners get past hurricane season and start building supplies for winter driving.

Gas prices in the Chicago-area have dropped, according to AAA. According to the survey, the current average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Chicago is $4.15. Uh...hooray? Nationally, the average price is $3.996, with the cheapest being in Wichita, Kansas ($3.61) and the most expensive being Anchorage, Alaska ($4.43).

The number of Meals on Wheels volunteer drivers is waning. This trend is another unfortunate side effect of rising gas prices, and is a nationwide problem for Meals on Wheels programs, which typically operate at the county level. Community Nutrition Network, which runs suburban Cook County's Meals on Wheels, hasn’t yet seen a substantial drop in service, since remaining volunteers are offering to drive extra shifts.

We almost missed this silliness last week: county highway workers have been ordered to observe a "no-drive" day every other Wednesday to cut fuel costs. Barring an emergency, Cook County Highway Department crews, the same people that fix potholes around the county, stay at the garage twice a month to do other, non-driving odd jobs. Highway Supt. Rupert Graham says the policy is modeled after Illinois Department of Transportation schedule. IDOT keeps most crews off the road once a week to do maintenance work around garages or to attend training. Graham told the Sun-Times that the department is trying to be "smarter than they have in the past in how we use our fuel." County commissioner Forrest Claypool doesn't see it that, way, saying "we've known about [high] fuel prices for a long time, but people still use roads for their daily lives. People still pay taxes to maintain roads," Claypool said. "Salaries for workers who aren't working on the roads is a far larger expense than savings from unused gasoline. It's fuzzy thinking at best."

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Gas prices are heading up, up, up, and as every media outlet in town has noted this week, Chicago's prices are topping the nation's, averaging over $4 per gallon. But that got us wondering: How much do gallons of other liquids cost?

Chicago has just been awarded the dubious honor of having the highest gas prices in the nation, according to the latest Lundberg Survey. Area residents are paying an average of $4.07 for a gallon of regular gas, and nearly $4.60 for a gallon of diesel.