User:Nathan thomo/sandbox

Bibliography on Rationing in the United States
Gasoline Rationing Policy and Practice in Canada and the United States

Wartime Rationing and Governmental Organization

Promoting a Culture of Driving: Rationing, Car Sharing, and Propaganda in World War II

FOOD WILL WIN THE WAR: FOOD CONSERVATION IN WORLD WAR I WISCONSIN

Putting the brakes on *non-essential travel 1940s wartime mobility, prosperity, and the US Office of Defense (I like)

Rationing in the United States planning
During the duration that the United States entered the war to the August 1945 peace agreement with Japan, there was a dramatic shift where Americans drove cars less, carpooled when they did drive, walked and used their bicycle more, and increased the use of public transportation.Between 1941 and 1944 the total amount of gas consumed from highway use in the United States dropped to 32 percent. The federal agency named the Office of Defense Transportation (ODT) was put in charge during the war to focus on controlling the domestic transportation and was responsible for collecting data, conducting research and analysis, setting goals for fuel consumption and helped determine rationing coupon values. ODT deemed controlling the amount of gasoline to civilians by rationing, the car owner would drive less, extending the car's tires and conserving fuel at the same time. This led to resources such as oil and rubber to be conserved and used for war efforts.

In January 1942 there was a study published by the Public Roads Administration that discovered that driving 35 m.p.h helped tires last four times as long than if the speed was 65 m.p.h. In order to reduce the lifespan of tires and reduce the use, the ODT contacted the governors of all the states to establish lower speed limits. In March of the same year to decrease the large amount of single occupied drivers, car sharing programs were encouraged for workplaces that had more than 100 employees from the ODT and the Highway Traffic Advisory Committee.

The saying 'When you ride ALONE you ride with Hitler!' was created to reinforce the message that it is the Americans patriotic duty to share rides to help the war cause.