The number of gas stations in the United States has fallen by nearly 30 percent in the last two decade and the DC government says it is determined to arrest that decline, at least in this jurisdiction. Why it feels this way is a complete mystery, and that it has taken action on this front is absurd.
It is easy to surmise why we have fewer gas stations: more stringent regulations on underground gas tanks increased the cost of operating a station and spurred many operators to close their doors in the late 1990s. Also, many gas station operators these days see selling gas as primarily a way to attract a lot of shoppers to their store and are willing to cut their margin to the bone to get those ancillary sales. As a result, the average fuel sales (and non-fuel sales) of gas stations has been growing steadily. The days of a mom and pop station selling gas, fixing cars, and selling a little candy by the cashier are long gone.
In Washington DC, the number of gas stations has been further reduced by the sharp increase in real estate prices. The opportunity cost of operating a station jumps when the land would be much more profitable with a multi-story building on it instead of gas pumps.
Few people see this economic evolution towards fewer gas stations as a bad thing in and of itself: The economy today looks vastly different than the economy four decades ago–there are many more restaurants, fewer music stores, and a wide variety of entities today that didn’t even exist in the 1970s and 1980s. Few people across the country complain that it is difficult to buy gas–because if there were an excess demand, there would be an incentive for an entrepreneur to build a gas station.
Nevertheless, Washington DC has a Gas Station Advisory Board that must approve all station closings, and there is a good chance it will stand in the way of a developer hoping to convert a gas station into condos in tony Dupont Circle.
Read more at https://www.cato.org/blog/washington-dc-progressives-fight-reserve-gas-stations
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