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

---

Brewing the Perfect Cup of Coffee

Do you remember your first experience with coffee? I'm sorry... Read More

Coffee is a commodity

At Starbucks they obviously need coffee. To insure that they... Read More

Coffee and Alzheimers Disease

With the American population aging rapidly, diseases that affect the... Read More

Coffee Cupping For The Fun Of It

Coffee cupping is a method to compare the different characteristics... Read More

Kenya Coffee History

In Kenya coffee production dates back several hundred years. Coffee... Read More

Try the Tradition of Turkish Coffee and Taste the Difference

The Europeans got their first taste of Turkish Coffee, and... Read More

The Best Cup of Drip Coffee Possible

With a "good" cup of coffee costing almost as much... Read More

Campfire Coffee Recipes

Want to know a few secrets to making a good... Read More

Caffeine - I Bet You Didnt Know This! Health and Nutrition!

What exactly is caffeine? It is a colorless, somewhat bitter... Read More

Buy Only Fresh Gourmet Coffee Beans if You are Looking to Brew Flavorful Gourmet Coffee

Most coffee beans are grown in sub-tropical climates all over... Read More

Is Caffeine a Hero or a Villain in Your Life?

Many sober, law abiding people who would never dream of... Read More

A Coffee Roaster For All Occasions

Coffee roasters and those who roast, brew and serve the... Read More

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Coffee Consumption

Coffee is heavily studied, but study results contradict one another.... Read More

Arabica Coffee Beans Are Pricey Yet Priceless!

Arabica coffee beans are known for a better-flavored coffee. There... Read More

Coffee Makers

If you are a gourmet coffee drinker, you may want... Read More

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

A researcher has stirred up the commuter coffee mug with... Read More

Coffee Commodities and Starbucks

If we look at commodity trading from a purely conceptual... Read More

Italian Coffee - Something For Everyone

Espresso, caffè latte, cappuccino; there would seem to be as... Read More

Make Money In Your Own Coffee Business

A 2001 survey by the National Coffee Association indicated that... Read More

Starbucks Coffee Company

Starbucks Coffee Company was founded in 1971 by three businessmen... Read More

Heating Vegetable Oil to Frying Temps Forms Toxic Compound

New research by a University of Minnesota professor and a... Read More

Cappuccino Secrets: Creating the Perfect Foam

Here is an article that tells the secret of creating... Read More

Fresh Gourmet Coffee

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in the... Read More

Coffee from Guatemala

In Guatemala coffee grows in the heart of what was... Read More

Coffee Breaks - Do They Create Stress?

The American custom of taking break during the working hours.... Read More

Brazilian Coffee

Adultery, deceit and politics, all the makings of a modern-day... Read More

Diabetes and the Preventive Power of Coffee!

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is one of the most rapidly... Read More

Coffee in America

American coffee? Technically there is no such thing, at least... Read More

Russian Tea drinking - The beginning

It is believed history of Russian tea drinking tradition have... Read More

Gourmet Flavored Coffee

Coffee tastes great by itself, but for an extra special... Read More

How to Make a Great Tasting Cup of Coffee - Its Not Rocket Science

There is good coffee and absolutely abysmal coffee. Both may... Read More

Coffee ?Nectar of the gods

About 850 A.D it is said that a lone shepherd... Read More

La Minita Coffee ? It?s in the Green Beans

La Minita; Spanish for "The Little Gold Mine" says it... Read More