A researcher has stirred up the commuter coffee mug with \rthe suggestion that morning rush hour traffic is worsened \rby stops for daily morning gourmet coffee at Starbucks and \rother premium coffee houses. Nancy McGuckin, a travel \rbehavior analyst, studied a report called ¡°National \rHousehold Travel Survey¡± by the U.S. Department of \rTransportation as the basis for her provocative \rconclusions.

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

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

McGuckin, the travel analyst, dubbed her discovery, ¡°The \rStarbucks Effect¡± because during the period she studied, \rStarbucks added over 4000 new locations (1995 ¨C 2001). \rAlthough not limiting this research finding only to trips \rto coffee houses, the research suggests that running \radditional errands in the morning on the way to work has \rcontributed to traffic congestion and increased gridlock. \rThis is because people divert from the shortest and fastest \rroute, to one that leads them past the coffee house or dry \rcleaners.

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

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

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

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

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

Commuters can consider making gourmet coffee drinks at home \rbefore departing for work and enjoy it at home while \rspending quality time with the family or take it along in a \rcommuter coffee travel mug. You¡¯ll save money by paying \rless than .30 cents per cup for your favorite gourmet \rcoffee made from fresh ground beans, as well as help to \rreduce gridlock and increase mileage by taking the fastest \rroute to work instead of detouring to the coffee shop.

Copyright ? 2005 http://TastesOfTheWorld.net

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