Coffee Information

Gourmet Coffee Stops Decrease Gas Mileage;Home Brewed Premium Coffee Reduce Traffic Congestion


A researcher has stirred up the commuter coffee mug with the suggestion that morning rush hour traffic is worsened by stops for daily morning gourmet coffee at Starbucks and other premium coffee houses. Nancy McGuckin, a travel behavior analyst, studied a report called "National Household Travel Survey" by the U.S. Department of Transportation as the basis for her provocative conclusions.

It has long been known that frequent starting and stopping during a commute drastically reduces fuel economy due to the need to rev up the car engine to accelerate to traffic speeds and then stop for traffic lights and accelerate once again. This is the reason why manufacturers estimaged "city" mileage is always significantly lower than the estimated "highway" mileage. In addition, if the engine is turned off and restarted, mileage is decreased significantly, because it is at startup of the car engine that the most fuel is wasted.

This behavior is exactly what is required when visiting congested shopping areas on the way to work, find a parking space, (where gourmet coffee shops are often located) stop the engine, return to the car with coffee in hand, restart the engine and make your way back to the highway and finally to work.

McGuckin, the travel analyst, dubbed her discovery, "The Starbucks Effect" because during the period she studied, Starbucks added over 4000 new locations (1995 - 2001). Although not limiting this research finding 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.

The shorter route between home and business office would be much more direct and require fewer bursts of acceleration, engine starts and stops and less frequent visits to crowded shopping areas, which require commuters to search for parking, with trips around the block to find spaces or idling the engine waiting for others to leave spaces nearer the coffee house.

Burning small amounts of extra fuel during those waits over and over each day adds up to very significant wasted fuel and lowered mileage over time. Wear and tear on engines increases as this behavior continues, and becomes habitual.

The cost of gourmet coffee at premium coffee houses is also as much as six or seven times the cost of home brewed coffee from premium fresh ground whole bean blends. Coffee houses have either a "house blend" or "featured" blend on brew and you get whatever they have chosen for you. Then your only choice is to elbow your way through the crowds and merge back into the city gridlock to get to work, further slowing traffic and decreasing gas mileage.

A Washington Post article by Catherine Shaver, discusses the commuter study and quotes Alan E. Pisarsky, Author of "Commuting in America" as saying, "It's more of a problem from a traffic point of view than from anything else."

Increasing the number of stops in the trip decreases gas mileage and stress levels, while brewing coffee at home can actually save you gas over a relatively short period of time. Taking fresh brewed coffee from home could actually reduce stress and wear and tear on the car. When brewing your own gourmet coffee blend at home, you have a choice of fresh ground coffee beans from fine Italian Espressos to the rare and exotic Indonesian Kopi Luwak.

Commuters can consider making gourmet coffee drinks at home before departing for work and enjoy it at home while spending quality time with the family or take it along in a commuter coffee travel mug. You'll save money by paying less than .30 cents per cup for your favorite gourmet coffee made from fresh ground beans, as well as help to reduce gridlock and increase mileage by taking the fastest route to work instead of detouring to the coffee shop.

Copyright © 2005 http://TastesOfTheWorld.net

Written by Mike Banks Valentine for Tastes of The World coffee company. Focusing on specialty gourmet coffees which are not readily available in the United States. Rare Gourmet Coffee is their business so they make shopping with them risk free. http://www.TastesOfTheWorld.net


MORE RESOURCES:

Coffee stop leads Ark. police to cocaine arrest
FOXNews - 9 hours ago
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas sheriff's deputies said they arrested a man needing a little bit more of a boost to go with his morning coffee. ...


Bona Coffee Holdings Corp. Announces Agreement With Mall of Asia
MarketWatch - 16 hours ago
(PINKSHEETS: BCHC) announced that Bona Coffee Company Corp. has signed an agreement to open its third coffee shop in the Philippines. ...


Angels Help Distribute Free Cases of 7-Eleven(R) Heavenly Blend ...
MarketWatch - 19 hours ago
In keeping with the spirit of giving, 7-Eleven will be providing 375 free cases of Heavenly Blend Coffee to Churches, Temples and Houses of Worship as a ...


We're going to need a lot more coffee
San Francisco Chronicle,  USA - 6 hours ago
It's time to start placing bets, folks: How many people are going to make it through all 7 1/2 hours of Gavin Newsom's marathon State of the City address? ...


Fantasy Man's instant coffee
San Francisco Chronicle,  USA - Nov 30, 2008
-- Amani Toomer and Domenik Hixon have to be really upset about this whole Plaxico Burress thing. The Giants' receivers don't smile as they do cartwheels. ...


(Organic) Coffee and Chocolate and Tea ... Oh My!
MarketWatch - 12 hours ago
A manufacturer of USDA certified organic coffee, tea, chocolate and puffed fruit that crunches, Explorer's Bounty's earth-conscious food products will be ...


New York Daily News

Still the 1! Coffee leads Alabama to rout of Auburn
Seattle Post Intelligencer - Nov 29, 2008
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sports Network) - Glen Coffee ran for 144 yards and a TD on 20 carries and Mark Ingram scored twice and ran for 64 yards as top-ranked ...
Tide strikes on perfect play: Coffee's run ended Auburn's The Huntsville Times - al.com
Coffee’s performance makes big difference Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
Crimson Tide first and 10 Tuscaloosa News (subscription)
New York Times - Rivals.com (subscription)
all 1,090 news articles


WCHS splits pair at Coffee County on Tuesday
Sparta Expositor, TN - 20 hours ago
BY TAMMY WILHITE The White County High School basketball teams made the trip to Coffee County on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to take on a pair of region ...


New spas go green
Atlanta Journal Constitution,  USA - 3 hours ago
“We’ve always been interested in building with energy efficiency and eco-chic design,” said Cici Coffee, founder and CEO of Natural Body Salon and Shoppe, ...
Flora leaving Green Building Alliance for job in DC Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Director leaving Pittsburgh's Green Building Alliance Pittsburgh Post Gazette
New LEED guidelines give more weight to efficiency Energy Efficiency News
all 5 news articles


Glacier Park shop on Register of Historic Places
San Jose Mercury News,  USA - 8 hours ago
A coffee shop in Glacier National Park is being added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Lake McDonald Lodge Coffee Shop, just east of Lake ...

Coffee - Google News

home | site map
© 2006