Using a GPS Saves Gas - Study Confirms the Obvious

NAVTEQ, a self-proclaimed leading provider of GPS and mapping data, recently released a study showing that use of a GPS leads to gas savings. The study was narrow in focus, but the results appear to confirm the obvious.

The study included only metropolitan drivers in two European cities and consisted of less than 500 total hours of driving. The participants had not previously used GPS in their vehicles. The data showed a few key findings:

Drivers averaged a 12% increase in fuel economy over the course of the study or the equivalent of almost 44 days annually.

Drivers experienced greater gas savings when traveling to an unknown destination.
Fuel economy increased throughout the course of the study as drivers apparently acclimated to using a GPS device.

Drivers utilizing a GPS with traffic information realized higher gas savings during rush hour than those without traffic information.

I doubt that further explanation as to the "why" behind these findings is required. Each seems quite obvious. However, the far-reaching potential benefits of these findings exceed the marketing ambitions of NAVTEQ.

As President Obama pushes to increase fuel economy standards by 2016, thus save nearly the equivalent of 86 days of US petroleum use annually, I wonder if a mandate for GPS units in all new cars shouldn't be on the docket.

The Federal Highway Administration states that based on the 2000 Census, nearly 80% of the U.S. population lives in urban areas. If 80% of drivers save 44 days of fuel annually due to a GPS and an additional 86 days annually due to Obama's proposed increased fuel economy standards, the composite annual savings would be 130 days or 36%.

I am not a statistician, but I realize that extrapolating these numbers from a single narrow focus study and assuming that nearly 226 million people will all purchase new cars in 2016 is faulty logic.

But is it too much to dream that the current bail-out of the Big Three could ultimately result in every American being given a government-sponsored new car just to keep the system rolling along? If we're all going to mortgage the future of our nation, shouldn't we at least get a new Chevy Malibu for our trouble? Too bad it will likely be rusted out by the time my six year gets his driver's license.