I took a trip to Metro Detroit yesterday (Sept.25, 2011) from Harrison and enjoyed the changing colors and the scenery. What I didn’t enjoy (or understand) were the differences in gas prices I encountered along the way. I found them to be $3.56 in Beaverton; $3.26 in Flint; $3.68 near Highland and $3.46 in Livonia.
I make that trip on a fairly regular basis and the cheapest gas prices seem to be in the Saginaw-Flint corridor along I-75. Not sure why. One would think gas would be cheaper in the Detroit area but it is not, at least not in the stations I saw. Makes no sense to me, but then few things in this world do. For example, just read an article in the Detroit Free Press Sunday on how much of a premium air travelers pay who take Delta Air Lines out of Detroit Metro compared to those who fly from Lansing, Flint, K-zoo or even Pellston to Detroit, connect at Detroit Metro and then on to Asia. The differences can total in the thousands of dollars. It’s the free market at work, supply and demand and the effects of competition, I supposed mixed in with a little greed.
Anyway, it’s frustrating and it hurts at the wallet but there’s not much one can do to avoid the high prices but stay home. And while I like my home in Harrison I’m not yet ready to do that, so I climb into my car, belly up to the gas pump and pay (and sometimes save 5 cents a gallon by using my Meijer credit card). Oh, and I don’t fly to Asia. That I can’t afford to do at any price.
Trains, Reins and Shantyboys 