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The good news (really) about $4 gas
By Eric
Hartley
Capital Newspaper Staff Writer
6/15/08
By now,
the downside of high gas prices is obvious to everyone. The
upside may be a bit harder to spot, especially if you're reading
this shortly after filling up your tank.
But here
it is: It seems $4 gas has finally gotten some local commuters
out of their cars. Take Eileen Dillon-Johnston of Annapolis,
who used to drive to Landover every day from her home in Annapolis,
then take Metrorail to her job at a Washington, D.C., law firm.
Then it started costing $40 to fill up her small Toyota Celica,
which gets pretty good mileage. Two weeks ago, she started taking
the 7:30 a.m. bus from the park and ride lot off Riva Road.
She's saving money; she's less stressed. "All these years, why
didn't I take it?" she asked one morning last week while waiting
for the bus.
For all
the efforts over the years to encourage mass transit use - arguments
about congestion and environmental effects, promises of a more
relaxed commute with no road rage - it is money, naturally,
that's finally making it happen for some. Let's hope it's a
lasting change. It would be nice if it hadn't taken sky-high
gas prices to do it, because there are people genuinely hurt
by them, especially those living on the margins of society.
And not
everyone has the choice to start taking a bus or train. But
for all the complaining, most people can afford $4 a gallon
for gas; it's simply a matter of priorities. If you spend $100
or more a month for a cell phone and digital cable and high-speed
Internet access - as do a lot of people who seem to consider
themselves squeezed by rising prices - are your expenses really
cut to the bone?
Granted,
a few commuters getting out of their cars is merely a drop in
the bucket, and there's not enough public transportation in
Anne Arundel County to make any serious dent in the short term
in our culture of cars. But it's a start. The possible benefits
of fewer cars on the road are worth it: cleaner air, better
health, fewer crashes and even improved economic productivity
for everyone because of less time wasted sitting in traffic.
The Maryland
Transit Administration commuter bus from Annapolis to Washington
is $144.50 a month. Dillon's Bus Service, which runs them under
contract with MTA, added an extra morning bus and an extra afternoon
bus June 1, said Nelson Cross, director of operations for Dillon's.
Ridership is up 10 percent in the past three months, he said.
The MTA said overall ridership of bus and rail was up almost
11 percent from July 2007 to March, the last month for which
figures were available.
Heather
McColl, executive director of the Annapolis Regional Transportation
Management Association, said new inquiries from county residents
about her carpooling match service went from 25 in April 2007
to 63 in April 2008. "I think when (gas) hit $4, it hit a nerve
with people," said Jerry Cunningham of Annapolis, who takes
the bus to his new job as a contractor for the Department of
Homeland Security. One longtime rider, Chris Spain, said she
used to get a seat to herself sometimes and enjoyed the extra
room. No more. Indeed, there have been times she's had to wait
on her trip back home because the first bus to come by is full.
The park and ride lot, which got a 200-space expansion just
last year, is often full.
There's
another benefit, too: Riders said they make connections and
have a sense of community. Standing near the front of a line
that snaked around the sidewalk, Ms. Dillon-Johnston (no relation
to the bus company owners) and Kathy Meyer laughed like old
friends, though they had just met the week before. "We adopted
her right away," said Ms. Meyer, who used to drive to New Carrollton
but loves her new stress-free commute. They said their driver,
Eric, knows everyone who rides by name. A far cry from thousands
of solo commuters, sitting in cars by themselves. Ms. Meyer
stopped herself from gushing at one point and said: "We don't
want to sell this too much, because then we'll never get a seat."
Of course, this is America. We love our cars, and this kind
of change only goes so far. "I'm still going to Ocean City if
I feel like it," Ms. Dillon-Johnston said. "I think when (the
gas price) goes down, people will hop back in their cars," Mr.
Cunningham said. But not everyone. Mr. Cunningham, for one,
is staying on the bus. "My car isn't that nice," he said.
Published
June 15, 2008, The Capital, Annapolis, Md. Copyright © 2008
The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
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