As gasoline prices continue their race toward $3.00, based on the average price of a gallon of regular nationwide, the price has already dropped below $3.10 in 18 cities. These represent a sign that, in some regions, the $3.00 level will be pierced soon.
Most of the cities are in states that are either close to large refineries or those with low gas taxes. An ongoing debate about gas taxes argues that, on the one hand, low gas taxes help improve the economy by increasing discretionary spending. On the other hand, higher gas taxes would help pay for the billions of dollars of infrastructure needed to repair America’s roads and bridges. The bridge problem alone is acute, according to Transportation for America:
Every day, millions of people from all walks of life in cities and towns large and small travel over one of our country’s 66,405 structurally deficient bridges — more than one in nine (11 percent) of all bridges. Structurally deficient bridges are those that require significant maintenance, rehabilitation or replacement.
The road repair problem is even larger.
Regardless of how the debate comes out, the price of gasoline has fallen, and likely will keep falling. The 18 cities that have received the largest benefit so far in dropping prices, according to GasBuddy, are:
Spartanburg, S.C. 3.030 +0.002
Richmond, Va. 3.031 0.000
Greenville, S.C. 3.042 0.000
Tulsa, Okla. 3.046 -0.004
Jackson, Miss. 3.050 -0.002
Chattanooga, Tenn. 3.050 -0.005
Toledo, Ohio 3.051 +0.001
Myrtle Beach, S.C. 3.054 -0.002
Amarillo, Texas 3.055 +0.001
Santa Fe, N.M. 3.065 -0.002
Roanoke, Va. 3.068 -0.001
Baton Rouge, La. 3.071 +0.005
Lubbock, Texas 3.082 +0.008
Columbia, S.C. 3.085 +0.003
Shreveport, La. 3.088 0.000
New Orleans, La. 3.094 0.000
Little Rock, Ark. 3.102 +0.002
Birmingham, Ala. 3.104 0.000
The effects of being close to refineries near the Gulf of Mexico are obvious. And South Carolina ranks 47th among state gas tax amounts at 16.8 cents per gallon, according to the Tax Foundation. Virginia ranks 40th with a 19.9 cent rate.
The argument that $4 gas prices would badly damage consumer spending should have another side, which is the benefit of gas prices being much lower.
At the current rate of gas price decreases, several cities should have gas prices below $3 within weeks.
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