Finding Gas in NYC
Hurricane Sandy has caused much more damage than expected to the East coast. One of the damage that continues to affect parts of the East coast is the gas shortage. The damages by Sandy have affected the gasoline distribution center in New York City and are felt by many commuters. Some stations remain without power while other stations are not getting the gasoline delivery they require. Not all of the gas stations in New York City and surrounding areas are being utilized. Till this day, drivers are still scavenging for places to fill their cars with gas and are only made possible by both information-based effects and direct-benefit effects.
Information-based effects are caused by the behaviors of people based on what they know. An example from class would be picking out a Red or Blue marble from the urn. If the first two people both said Red from an urn with three marbles, then there is a high probability that most of the urn contains red marbles. The same effects are seen in the gas shortage in New York City. An excerpt from a New York Times articles says, “Peter Lanci spent two days trying to find gasoline in Nassau County, on Long Island, driving by nine closed gas stations and finding only one that was open — with about 150 cars waiting in line.” This is a real-life example of information-based effects. When you observe that there is no one at a gas station, then there is a high probability that there is no gas at the station due to a number of reasons. However, if you see one person at a gas station, then there is some probability that there is gas at the station. As more people line up at the station, then the probability there is gas at the station increases. People who are closer to the gas station would have their own private signals because they know if there is gas at the station when they see other people pumping gas. People further back are acting on other people’s signal or based on what they observed. This starts a cascade because other people who also want gas will trust everyone else who is already on line for gas.
Another method New Yorkers have to get gas is through direct-benefit effects. There are many drivers in New York City that want gas so they can all work collaboratively. As a result, they can add direct benefit to gas-seekers through a website called Gasbuddy.com. Gasbuddy tracks which stations with user-submitted inputs. They were able to tell that “by Wednesday, 75 percent of New York City’s gas stations were still without gas, compared with a regional average of 24 percent, according to the site.” There is value-added here because people can regularly check this website to see which gas stations are available and the estimated wait time for gas. Based on the information that is provided, drivers can act on the benefit provided.
Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/nyregion/gas-shortage-persists-in-nyc-and-nassau-county.html?_r=0
– Rjay