Gas prices are clearly affecting  small-town motorists’ decisions to hit the road as driving on rural interstates fell 7 percent over the last year, reports the Center for Rural Strategies’ Daily Yonder Web site.

High gas prices and a generally spooky economy have curtailed Americans’ driving this summer, across Yonder most of all.

The Federal Highway Administration, releasing its national traffic figures for June 2008 reported a 4.7% decrease in driving since June 2007. According to the Chicago Tribune “Highway officials expected metropolitan areas to show the biggest decline because people have mass transit as an option, but it came in rural areas instead.” From June a year ago, driving on rural highway interstates fell 7%.