RATIONING: Spotty Local Starts

The Federal Energy Office made it official last week: it has "certainly decided" against beginning nationwide gasoline rationing on March 1. Administrator William Simon had previously picked that date as the earliest the agency could begin distributing the ration coupons the Government has been printing. So, for at least the time being, the only hope that motorists have for shrinking the long and frustrating lines stretching from gasoline pumps lies in the local rationing plans that are spreading across the country. Last week six more states—Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington—and a number of cities, including Miami and San Diego, adopted some form of rationing. Their plans got off to a spotty start.

Nearly all the systems follow the for mat pioneered by Oregon last month: motorists whose license plates end in an even number can buy gas only on the even dates of the calendar; odd-numbered days are reserved for the owners of cars with odd-numbered plates. In order to prevent obsessive "topping off' of tanks, a minimum purchase of half a tankful, or $3 worth, often must be made. Compliance is generally voluntary, but New Jersey and Maryland joined Hawaii in setting up mandatory systems backed by stiff fines of up to $1,000 on station owners or motorists who are caught acting in violation of the rules.

The plans brought out the best and worst in the customers—more often the worst. Lines generally shortened; "It works!" headlined the Miami Herald.

But many drivers, says John Bell, owner of a Mobil station in Lexington, Mass., "have tried every trick in the book to beat the system, from 'My wife is about to give birth' to 'My daughter is sick.' It's incredible the sob stories you hear." In Wilkes-Barre, Pa. a woman argued for five minutes at pumpside that eight was not an even but an odd number. In San Diego, bribery reared up.

"One day when the station was closed," says Greg Wilson, an attendant at a Phillips 66 station, "a guy drove in and offered me whatever I wanted to fill his tank. He was so angry when I refused."

Troubles aside, the new restrictions on gasoline are necessary. U.S. refineries have only enough crude to operate at 82% of capacity. Oil imports are dropping steadily, reports the FEO: from 5 million bbl. a day two weeks ago to 4.9 million bbl. last week. Compounding an already bad situation, most drivers still seem unwilling to form car pools or switch to alternative forms of transit. In a Gallup poll last week, 79% of those interviewed said that they used autos to go to work—exactly the same proportion as in 1971.

All this puts special pressure on the FEO'S program to allocate gasoline supplies equitably throughout the nation.

That program, says FEO Deputy Administrator John Sawhill, still has "kinks."