Gasoline volume sales/our changing culture… Advisor Perspectives

Advisor Perspectives has a nice piece explaining gasoline sales over time, here…  Yes, gasoline sales are sensitive to price and economic growth:

This chart shows how sales per capita have dropped sharply:

 

Advisor Perspectives explains:

”In addition to improvements in fuel efficiency, declines in gasoline consumption per capita can be attributable in large part to some powerful secular changes in US demographics and culture in general:

We have an aging population leaving the workforce, which we clearly see in the sustained contraction in the employment-population ratio.
There is growing trend toward a portable workplace and the ability to work from home.
Social media has provided powerful alternatives to face-to-face interaction requiring transportation (Internet apps, games, the ubiquitous mobile phone for talk and texting).
There has been a general trend in young adults to drive less (related to points two and three above). See this report at the U.S. PIRG website for details.
The US is experiencing accelerating urban population growth, which reduces the per-capita dependence on gasoline.”