![\"State](\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2015\/02\/Palo_Duro_Canyon-IMG_8703_4_5_adjust.jpg\")
<\/a>Texas Parks and Wildlife Department<\/p>
State Parks are seeing more visitors. Above: Palo Duro Canyon, in the Panhandle.<\/p><\/div>\n
Lower Gas Prices = More Road Trips\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\nThe average price of gas in Texas dipped to $1.82 a gallon in late January, and though it\u2019s climbed back to $2.17 today, it\u2019s still a dollar cheaper than the state average a year ago, according to the Automobile Association of America (AAA). The U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s Energy Information Administration predicts the average price of gas will remain under $3 per gallon<\/a> for the coming year.<\/p>\nWith those savings, drivers are starting to hit the road more.<\/p>\n
Recent numbers <\/a>show\u00a0consumers are putting extra gas in their tanks, though not enough to help station owners recover the revenue they\u2019ve lost to lower prices.<\/p>\nAnd highway-friendly tourist destinations might want to expect more guests this year. Texas\u2019s state parks registered 1,740,000 visitors between September and November 2014, when gas prices were starting to fall, nearly 200,000 more than the same period the year before.<\/p>\n
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) says the price of gas is just one variable among many that affects park attendance, which is complicated by the state of the economy.\u00a0All the same, Rob McCorkle of the department suggests that if you are going to take advantage of low gas prices and hit the road, visit Palo Duro Canyon, which he calls \u201ca true gem.\u201d Located in the Panhandle, the park is far from the state\u2019s population centers, but a cheaper opportunity to drive there hasn’t been around for a while.<\/p>\n
Time for a Tune-Up<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\nJacob Loyd, who owns Patriot Engine and Transmission, a mechanic shop on Manor Road in Austin, says he\u2019s seen a lot of new business this year. He\u2019s noticed that customers spend more when gas costs less.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack when gas started going up, in 2006 and 2007, we took about a 50 percent decline in business over two years,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd then when gas prices started dropping back down again, our sales right now for January are about 30% larger than last year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fewer Drilling Trucks = Safer, Better Roads<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\nAs the energy industry slows down in response to depressed prices, there will be fewer tankers and heavy rigs on the roads, which should result in fewer accidents. Crashes and fatalities shot up during the boom years in the major oil and gas producing counties. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) recorded a seven percent increase over the previous year in traffic fatalities in the Eagle Ford Shale, which covers 26 counties, in 2013, and a 15 percent increase in fatalities in the Permian Basin area, which covers 59 counties.<\/p>\n
TxDOT is allocating approximately 30 percent of its $1.74 billion budget to repair roads damaged by oil and gas production. It\u2019s also responded to the rise in fatalities through a \u201cBe Safe. Drive Smart.\u201d campaign. Now TxDOT’s job of making the shale roads safer might become somewhat easier thanks to less tanker trucks and heavy machinery in these areas.<\/p>\n
Cheaper Gas = More Splurging<\/strong><\/p>\nGlenn Hegar, the State Comptroller, sounded an optimistic note when he delivered the state\u2019s biennial revenue estimate in January. He predicted that the economy would see \u201cmoderate\u201d growth<\/a> despite the energy sector slowdown, and that the budget would make up for the energy revenue shortfall.<\/p>\n“This decline in oil prices and its implications for the Texas economy comes at a time when the national economy appears to be picking up steam,” Hegar said at the time. “Strength in the broader economy, such as in construction and professional and business sector services, should help counterbalance a marked slowdown in the Texas energy sector.”<\/p>\n
So far, his optimism seems to have been well-founded. Tax revenues for the fiscal year<\/a>, which began in September 2014, are up 6.8 percent compared to the same period the year prior, propelled by a 9.5 percent increase in sales tax revenues, a 13 percent increase in motor vehicle sales and rental tax revenues, and a 6 percent increase in fuel tax revenues. Encouraged by a stronger economy and lower gas prices, Texans not directly impacted by the oil and gas downturn are likely to spend more on retail goods.<\/p>\nSaving Up<\/strong><\/p>\nAmericans aren\u2019t spending all their savings on new consumption, though. They\u2019re replenishing their rainy day funds and likely paying off their credit card debts. Data collected by the Federal Reserve indicates that the personal savings rate ticked up<\/a> from 4.3 percent in November 2014 to 4.9 percent in December. That\u2019s good news for banks and credit unions, who should see more liquidity on hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Economists and state officials are reaching for their calculators as to predict how \u00a0the Texas economy will respond to lower oil prices. We’re already seeing falling oil and natural gas revenues pinch incomes and constrain spending, including layoffs at some energy companies. But is there also a silver lining? Could the downturn in the energy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[59],"tags":[115,417,90],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39876"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39876"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39885,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39876\/revisions\/39885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
With those savings, drivers are starting to hit the road more.<\/p>\n
Recent numbers <\/a>show\u00a0consumers are putting extra gas in their tanks, though not enough to help station owners recover the revenue they\u2019ve lost to lower prices.<\/p>\n And highway-friendly tourist destinations might want to expect more guests this year. Texas\u2019s state parks registered 1,740,000 visitors between September and November 2014, when gas prices were starting to fall, nearly 200,000 more than the same period the year before.<\/p>\n The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) says the price of gas is just one variable among many that affects park attendance, which is complicated by the state of the economy.\u00a0All the same, Rob McCorkle of the department suggests that if you are going to take advantage of low gas prices and hit the road, visit Palo Duro Canyon, which he calls \u201ca true gem.\u201d Located in the Panhandle, the park is far from the state\u2019s population centers, but a cheaper opportunity to drive there hasn’t been around for a while.<\/p>\n Jacob Loyd, who owns Patriot Engine and Transmission, a mechanic shop on Manor Road in Austin, says he\u2019s seen a lot of new business this year. He\u2019s noticed that customers spend more when gas costs less.<\/p>\n \u201cBack when gas started going up, in 2006 and 2007, we took about a 50 percent decline in business over two years,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd then when gas prices started dropping back down again, our sales right now for January are about 30% larger than last year.\u201d<\/p>\n As the energy industry slows down in response to depressed prices, there will be fewer tankers and heavy rigs on the roads, which should result in fewer accidents. Crashes and fatalities shot up during the boom years in the major oil and gas producing counties. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) recorded a seven percent increase over the previous year in traffic fatalities in the Eagle Ford Shale, which covers 26 counties, in 2013, and a 15 percent increase in fatalities in the Permian Basin area, which covers 59 counties.<\/p>\n TxDOT is allocating approximately 30 percent of its $1.74 billion budget to repair roads damaged by oil and gas production. It\u2019s also responded to the rise in fatalities through a \u201cBe Safe. Drive Smart.\u201d campaign. Now TxDOT’s job of making the shale roads safer might become somewhat easier thanks to less tanker trucks and heavy machinery in these areas.<\/p>\n Cheaper Gas = More Splurging<\/strong><\/p>\n Glenn Hegar, the State Comptroller, sounded an optimistic note when he delivered the state\u2019s biennial revenue estimate in January. He predicted that the economy would see \u201cmoderate\u201d growth<\/a> despite the energy sector slowdown, and that the budget would make up for the energy revenue shortfall.<\/p>\n “This decline in oil prices and its implications for the Texas economy comes at a time when the national economy appears to be picking up steam,” Hegar said at the time. “Strength in the broader economy, such as in construction and professional and business sector services, should help counterbalance a marked slowdown in the Texas energy sector.”<\/p>\n So far, his optimism seems to have been well-founded. Tax revenues for the fiscal year<\/a>, which began in September 2014, are up 6.8 percent compared to the same period the year prior, propelled by a 9.5 percent increase in sales tax revenues, a 13 percent increase in motor vehicle sales and rental tax revenues, and a 6 percent increase in fuel tax revenues. Encouraged by a stronger economy and lower gas prices, Texans not directly impacted by the oil and gas downturn are likely to spend more on retail goods.<\/p>\n Saving Up<\/strong><\/p>\n Americans aren\u2019t spending all their savings on new consumption, though. They\u2019re replenishing their rainy day funds and likely paying off their credit card debts. Data collected by the Federal Reserve indicates that the personal savings rate ticked up<\/a> from 4.3 percent in November 2014 to 4.9 percent in December. That\u2019s good news for banks and credit unions, who should see more liquidity on hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Economists and state officials are reaching for their calculators as to predict how \u00a0the Texas economy will respond to lower oil prices. We’re already seeing falling oil and natural gas revenues pinch incomes and constrain spending, including layoffs at some energy companies. But is there also a silver lining? Could the downturn in the energy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[59],"tags":[115,417,90],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39876"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39876"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39885,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39876\/revisions\/39885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Time for a Tune-Up<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n
Fewer Drilling Trucks = Safer, Better Roads<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n