Laura Regan gave up her queen of the road status months ago for a seat on the bus. Though the transition was less than elegant, it was simple economics: Parking fees and fuel costs, even for her hybrid sport utility vehicle, were just too high, she said. Regan is a medical technologist and commutes to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center from the Cypress Park & Ride lot. Her daily round trip is 76 miles. With gasoline prices at $3.51 a gallon — and seemingly headed for $4 — she figures she saves more than $200 a month on the bus.
"I love it," she said. "It's less stress."
Area residents, who otherwise would never part with their cars, now feel compelled by record fuel costs to look at alternatives, such as carpooling or telecommuting. Many also are turning to mass transit.
Several who were riding Metropolitan Transit Authority Park & Ride buses last week said they were saving wear and tear on their nerves at the same time. The rides are a time to escape with a book, listen to music or catch up on some Zs.
Traffic jams are other peoples' worries.
Last fall, the Chronicle examined two years' worth of monthly boarding data from Metro and monthly gasoline prices in Houston, but found no clear link between them. Both numbers went up and down, seemingly at random. That has changed.
Ridership counts for October through March are up nearly 3 percent compared to the same period 12 months earlier. Metro officials put the actual increase at more than 6 percent when adjusted to reflect more accurate counts made by sensors in the bus and train doors, starting in October.
Gas prices shot up
The price of regular gasoline rose 35 percent during the same period. Boardings for the six months on Park & Ride buses, which travel the long routes that eat deep into commuters' wallets, increased 13 percent over the previous year.
Metro's April data are not out yet, but in March, when gas prices here averaged $3.15 a gallon (32 percent higher than in March 2007), Park & Ride boardings were up 16 percent compared with a year ago.
Metro attributes about 40 percent of that gain to the opening of two new Park & Ride lots in Katy and Baytown, but says the rest is because of higher gas prices.
Metro also saw its boardings shoot up after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Much of that reflected the influx of evacuees to Houston. But there also was a nationwide increase in transit use sparked by the higher fuel prices after the storm, American Public Transportation Association spokeswoman Virginia Miller said.
A change in habits
Fuel prices approached $3 in 2006, then dipped during the summer. But transit use did not go down.
"People had changed their travel habits and were staying with it," Miller said. She said there may be a "tipping point" at which large numbers of motorists will shift to mass transit, at least for their daily commutes to work, but it is not clear where that point is.
"For a lot of people across the country, $3 and just over $3 was a tipping point, since both 2006 and 2007 were record ridership years," she said.
"It may be that $3.50 is a tipping point for a whole other level of people," Miller continued. If so, she said, it would be a hardship for the 54 percent of Americans who, according to the Census Bureau, do not have access to public transit.
"We're a country that's used to independence, and having our transportation independence has pretty much been taken for granted," she said. "If people start to feel they don't have the money to travel when and where they want to go, it goes against the American grain. But these prices show we need to have other options to driving a car."
A 2005 poll on motorists' attitudes by the Urban Land Institute found that, although respondents listed gas prices as a bigger concern than traffic congestion, 90 percent said they had driven alone in the previous week. By contrast, according to a March poll by CNN and Opinion Research Corp., 64 percent said they had changed their driving behavior in response to higher gas prices, and 5 percent said they had stopped driving altogether.
Lines seem to be longer
Several longtime Metro riders said last week they had noticed buses were more crowded and lines at the bus stops were longer.
"It wasn't like that when I first started taking the bus," Regan said while waiting to transfer at Metro's Northwest Transit Center. "Now, I have to get there earlier." It was difficult for Katie Holt to give up her car for her daily commute into downtown Houston.
"This is a little more convenient, especially with gas prices the way they are," she said. "It requires a little more time, but time is nothing compared to money in my pocket."
Randall McKee enjoys his quiet commute from downtown Houston to Katy. He became a daily rider four months ago and estimates he saves $340 a month in gas, tolls and parking.
"I actually fell asleep on the bus," he said. "I never did that (driving) down the Katy Freeway."
"I love it," she said. "It's less stress."
Area residents, who otherwise would never part with their cars, now feel compelled by record fuel costs to look at alternatives, such as carpooling or telecommuting. Many also are turning to mass transit.
Several who were riding Metropolitan Transit Authority Park & Ride buses last week said they were saving wear and tear on their nerves at the same time. The rides are a time to escape with a book, listen to music or catch up on some Zs.
Traffic jams are other peoples' worries.
Last fall, the Chronicle examined two years' worth of monthly boarding data from Metro and monthly gasoline prices in Houston, but found no clear link between them. Both numbers went up and down, seemingly at random. That has changed.
Ridership counts for October through March are up nearly 3 percent compared to the same period 12 months earlier. Metro officials put the actual increase at more than 6 percent when adjusted to reflect more accurate counts made by sensors in the bus and train doors, starting in October.
Gas prices shot up
The price of regular gasoline rose 35 percent during the same period. Boardings for the six months on Park & Ride buses, which travel the long routes that eat deep into commuters' wallets, increased 13 percent over the previous year.
Metro's April data are not out yet, but in March, when gas prices here averaged $3.15 a gallon (32 percent higher than in March 2007), Park & Ride boardings were up 16 percent compared with a year ago.
Metro attributes about 40 percent of that gain to the opening of two new Park & Ride lots in Katy and Baytown, but says the rest is because of higher gas prices.
Metro also saw its boardings shoot up after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Much of that reflected the influx of evacuees to Houston. But there also was a nationwide increase in transit use sparked by the higher fuel prices after the storm, American Public Transportation Association spokeswoman Virginia Miller said.
A change in habits
Fuel prices approached $3 in 2006, then dipped during the summer. But transit use did not go down.
"People had changed their travel habits and were staying with it," Miller said. She said there may be a "tipping point" at which large numbers of motorists will shift to mass transit, at least for their daily commutes to work, but it is not clear where that point is.
"For a lot of people across the country, $3 and just over $3 was a tipping point, since both 2006 and 2007 were record ridership years," she said.
"It may be that $3.50 is a tipping point for a whole other level of people," Miller continued. If so, she said, it would be a hardship for the 54 percent of Americans who, according to the Census Bureau, do not have access to public transit.
"We're a country that's used to independence, and having our transportation independence has pretty much been taken for granted," she said. "If people start to feel they don't have the money to travel when and where they want to go, it goes against the American grain. But these prices show we need to have other options to driving a car."
A 2005 poll on motorists' attitudes by the Urban Land Institute found that, although respondents listed gas prices as a bigger concern than traffic congestion, 90 percent said they had driven alone in the previous week. By contrast, according to a March poll by CNN and Opinion Research Corp., 64 percent said they had changed their driving behavior in response to higher gas prices, and 5 percent said they had stopped driving altogether.
Lines seem to be longer
Several longtime Metro riders said last week they had noticed buses were more crowded and lines at the bus stops were longer.
"It wasn't like that when I first started taking the bus," Regan said while waiting to transfer at Metro's Northwest Transit Center. "Now, I have to get there earlier." It was difficult for Katie Holt to give up her car for her daily commute into downtown Houston.
"This is a little more convenient, especially with gas prices the way they are," she said. "It requires a little more time, but time is nothing compared to money in my pocket."
Randall McKee enjoys his quiet commute from downtown Houston to Katy. He became a daily rider four months ago and estimates he saves $340 a month in gas, tolls and parking.
"I actually fell asleep on the bus," he said. "I never did that (driving) down the Katy Freeway."
Source: The Houston Chronicle| By RAD SALLEE and ROSANNA RUIZ
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