The end of cheap gas in New Jersey :(

[disneysteve]

Effective today, the gas tax here in NJ went up 23 cents/gallon. That took us from the 2nd lowest to the 6th highest in the nation.

We are still cheaper than our neighbors in PA who have the highest tax but this will certainly have some impact on people's budgets, especially those who drive a lot for work. It won't affect us terribly though it will ding us to some degree.

A lot of people in PA used to drive over to NJ to fill up but that will likely stop now as the differential isn't large enough to make it worth it any more.

[rutgers07]

Yuck. Whenever I travel back from Jersey to Vermont from visiting my parents, I always made it a point to fill it up in Jersey because of big difference in prices, at least 20+ cents a difference. There goes that now.

[JustDave]

I still remember the first (and only) time I tried to pump my own gas in NJ. Sorry I'm from a state where we're allowed to do that so I didn't know

I'm not a fan of the "drive less" argument of the gas tax proponents. Sure, we can all reduce consumption to some extent, but it gets to a point where you just realistically can't drive any less. I can't just drive halfway to work and stop, it doesn't work like that.

[97guns]

Doesn't hurt yet but wait until its $4 in Wyoming

[disneysteve]

I still remember the first (and only) time I tried to pump my own gas in NJ. Sorry I'm from a state where we're allowed to do that so I didn't know

I'm not a fan of the "drive less" argument of the gas tax proponents. Sure, we can all reduce consumption to some extent, but it gets to a point where you just realistically can't drive any less. I can't just drive halfway to work and stop, it doesn't work like that.

I would happily pay the extra 23 cents if they would let us pump it ourselves. One thing I despise about living here is that I can't pump my own gas. It takes 3 times as long to get gas because of this. Most of the bigger stations have 12 or 16 pumps and sometimes only 1 or 2 attendants so you spend a ridiculous amount of time waiting for them to come start the pump and then come back to finish the transaction.

And yes, "drive less" is inane. We drive the amount we need to drive, no more, no less. Very, very rarely I will get itchy at home and go out for a random drive but that might happen once or twice a year and I might log 15-20 miles so it isn't significant.

[bjl584]

Wow. And the government doesn't even allow you to pump the stuff yourselves in NJ.

Who voted for that, and where is all that money going to go?

[greenskeeper]

If a couple of bucks more to fill your tank blows up your budget then you've got major issues.

Also the tax isn't the main problem, rather it's that the funds aren't directly earmarked towards roads and bridges, this goes for most states not just NJ.

[cooliemae]

Oregon is the same way and I believe the idea behind it is to increase jobs, but personally I'd rather pay a little more in taxes and put the same people to work doing something constructive.

As for the gas tax, I'm not really bothered by it, as long as the money goes back into the road where it's suppose to. There's been some talk about raising the gas tax in WI this year to help pay for the need road improvements, but our governor would rather take a bond out to pay for the construction cost than raise taxes. It doesn't make any sense to me, but perhaps it feeds into the culture as a whole that sees borrowing as always preferable.

[rennigade]

My corolla has a 13 gallon tank. Even when gas goes up 20 cents that equates to around $2.50 more per fill up. That doesnt break me. Sure all other goods/services will also go up...but that still wont hurt us too bad.

In Kona most gas prices right now are $3.10/gallon. Oddly enough at costco here gas costs $2.60/gallon. We filled up there 2 days ago only because we stopped by costco. Not sure how costco can offer such lower prices for gas. The only thing I can think of is they take a hit when people fill up but they get you when you go into costco to buy products.