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KaiserJeep wrote:That does not mean that it makes financial sense for me to own a more fuel efficient vehicle, when I am driving less than 1000 miles annually.

You driving your jeep under a thousand miles annually, and to a lesser extent, me driving my Camry sedan under 4000 miles annually are not big problems.

The average US consumer driving about 13,000 miles a year AND moving en-masse to larger, less fuel efficient vehicles is.

I was absolutely not trying to pick on anyone who has a larger vehicle and uses it minimally as you do, or really needs it. I was just pointing out how overall, we're our own worst enemy in the US by behaving as a society in a way that pretty much counteracts the improvements in the ICE fleet re mileage, and appear to be set to continue to do so, for at least the next several years.

It's less of a condemnation than a "well, here we still are, despite our best efforts", observation.

I suppose this would be an example of Jevon's paradox at work?

Actually, your Camry sedan is a 111" wheelbase vehicle, compared to the 2-door Jeep which is a 97" wheelbase vehicle. My vehicle probably gets less mileage because it has a higher curb weight (+1000lbs), is wider and highher, and has the aerodynamics of a brick.

The island was suffering traffic gridlock last time we were there. They won't put in stoplights, and the tourists are simply lost all the time, because the streets are not laid out in logical parallel grids or consecutively numbered. There were enough new roads that I would have been lost without the GPS, and some of the streets are 1-way but the opposite way I remember from 40 years ago.

I'm thinking a bike makes sense if the weather isn't too cold or snowy or wet. Otherwise, I'll just shop in early morning before most people are out and about. But I'm taking the GPS even on the bike.