Why is This Important?
Motor vehicles are the largest source of pollution in San Mateo County, impacting both air and water quality. On-road transportation accounts for more than half of the county's total carbon dioxide emissions, a greenhouse gas linked to climate change. High fuel costs can have a major impact on household budgets through direct spending on transportation, and indirect price increases on other goods and services.
What is a Sustainable State?
A sustainable state is one that is carbon neutral and where alternative fuels or modes of transportation are available so that high fuel prices do not severely impact a household's ability to purchase essential items.
How Are We Doing?
• In 2008, fuel consumption in San Mateo County was 336 million gallons, an increase of 1.5 percent (from 331 million gallons) since 2007. Overall, fuel consumption has declined about 12 percent since its peak in 2000 of 383 million gallons.
• In 2008, annual gasoline consumption in San Mateo County was 453 gallons per person per year, almost unchanged from 2007. It was the first year since 2000 that it did not decline.
• In 2008, gasoline prices in the Bay Area averaged $3.64 per gallon, an increase of 50 cents per gallon from the previous year. Nationally, gasoline prices averaged $2.63 per gallon.
• In inflation-adjusted terms, gasoline prices in the Bay Area have increased by 86 percent since 1999.
• The county's 2008 average vehicle fuel economy was 20.1 miles per gallon, a slight decrease from 2007. It has been consistently higher than the national average fuel economy
for the last ten years.
• The San Francisco Metropolitan Area ranks third in the nation in hybrid vehicle popularity with an average of 6.7 hybrids per 1,000 households, a slight decrease from past years. Overall, national hybrid sales decreased 11 percent from 2007 to 2008 and 6 percent from 2008 to 2009, mirroring the overall trend of reduced sales in the automobile industry.
• Among states, California leads the nation in the number of 2009 hybrid registrations with 55,553 (California leads the next state, New York, by 40,205 cars).
