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Gourmet Coffee Stops Make Gas Costs Higher As Oil Price Nears 100 a...

Commuters appear to be economizing on coffee stops as gas prices soar to near $4 a gallon, according to online coffee retailer Tastesoftheworld.net (http://www.tastesoftheworld.net/index.php/cPath/28) stops on their commutes. While no direct link between coffee sales and gas prices is possible to make, commuters are unable to drive shorter distances to work except by cutting out stops for java or errands on the way to work.

Oil prices neared $100 per barrel last week, while gas station prices flirted with $4 per gallon at the priciest pumps. Starbucks reported a leveling of sales, announced a decline in expansion plans and experienced a drop of stock prices last week.

A travel behavior analyst, Nancy McGuckin, cited a report in 2005 called "National Household Travel Survey" by the U.S. Department of Transportation as the basis of her conclusions that morning rush hour traffic is worsened by stops for daily morning gourmet coffee at coffee shops.

McGuckin dubbed her discovery, "The Starbucks Effect" because during the period she studied, the chain added over 4000 new locations (1995-2001). Although not limited only to trips to coffee houses, the research suggests that running additional errands in the morning on the way to work has contributed to traffic congestion and increased gridlock. This is because people divert from the shortest and fastest route, to one that leads them past the coffee house or dry cleaners.

Increasing the number of stops in the trip decreases gas mileage and increases stress levels, while brewing coffee at home can actually save you gas and time as well as helping to reduce gridlock and reduce greenhouse gases by allowing the fastest route to work without detouring to the coffee shop. Brewing gourmet coffee at home also allows a wide choice of fresh ground coffee beans, from fine Italian Espresso to rare Jamaica Blue Mountain gourmet coffee (http://www.tastesoftheworld.net/product_info.php/cPath/28/products_id/92) and Jamaica Blue Mountain gourmet are available at

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