Utahns grumble but keep driving

Park City resident Joey Williams spends nearly $500 to fill up his truck every month as he treks from his mountain home to his Salt Lake Valley contracting job.

But besides uprooting his family or buying a new fuel-efficient car, Williams said he can't do much to counter climbing gas prices — just pay up and ride it out.

"It's just a little less profit at the end of every month," Williams said. "It takes a chunk out — it's just one more expense that's growing."

Like Williams, many residents are doing little more than grumbling at the pump rather than making drastic lifestyle changes, said Rolayne Fairclough at AAA of Utah. Buying a home closer to work or shelling out money for a new car that guzzles less gas may not be viable solutions.

And while some residents may be less apt to hit the road on a weekend excursion, a report released this past week by the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts Americans are not likely to scale back their driving anytime soon. In fact, the number of miles traveled and the amount of gas purchased this summer are expected to increase by about 2 percent despite escalating gas prices.

"I've tried to think of how I can cut down on my own driving, and there's just not many ways I can," Fairclough said. "When you think about it, what can you do?"

Real-estate agents in Tooele County, for example, don't worry about gas prices affecting their business. Dan Egelund, broker owner of ReMax Platinum in Tooele, said business is booming after the busiest selling season yet.

"I've not seen anyone yet who's said, 'We'd be interested in Tooele County, but with the current price increase in gas we're reconsidering it,' " he said. That's mostly because would-be Tooele residents still see "a good enough trade-off" between the lower housing prices in Tooele and the rising cost of commuting, Egelund added.

But if gas were to reach a cost of around $4 per gallon, he said commuters might "start rethinking what they're doing." Egelund said he also expects a shift in the county population from about 90 percent commuting to Salt Lake daily to more residents working close to home.

People who are already buying a new home or a car may take gas prices into consideration, Fairclough added, but for most residents the fuel hike just means a leaner budget as they wait for relief.

"People are just having to budget it in and have less discretionary income now," she said. "That may be where they're seeing the pinch. I suspect people think twice before they just take a Sunday drive."