Commuters altering driving habits as gas prices stay up By HOPE YEN The Associated Press 3/18/00 12:01 AM

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Robin Sanders says she can't imagine life without her towering four-wheel drive sport utility vehicle in rural Northumberland. But when it comes to visiting her son in Philadelphia, the 40-year-old woman doesn't think twice about leaving it behind.

"With gas at $1.50 a gallon, it's just not worth it to go drive, pick him up and bring him back," said Sanders, as she waited in Harrisburg for an Amtrak train. "There are so many people with so many cars on the road, someone's going to have to smarten up and figure out that there's a better way to do it."

Many drivers around the state are taking a second look at their travel and spending habits as fuel prices remain high. Some are staying off Pennsylvania's 40,000 miles of highways -- the fifth longest state system in the nation -- in favor of public transportation, while others are cutting down on other expenses.

"They're becoming more cost-conscious consumers," said Colleen Healey, spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic. "In the Philadelphia region, some people have taken to using mass transit. If they have two cars, they're using the more fuel-efficient vehicle."

The U.S. Energy Department has predicted that gasoline prices could escalate to $1.75 to $1.80 a gallon during the summer because production is not keeping pace with demand. Prices in some parts of the country already have edged close to $2. In Pennsylvania, the average price is $1.53, according to AAA.

Drivers appear to be responding to the increases.

Amtrak says train ridership in February increased by 11.5 percent to 193,000 passengers on its Metroliner service covering New York, Philadelphia and Washington, compared to the same time last year. Ridership on its Keystone service between Harrisburg and Philadelphia increased 2.5 percent to 76,000 passengers.

Because most Amtrak trains are electric-powered, ticket prices have remained steady, apparently drawing new riders, said spokesman Rick Remington. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, which serves southeastern Pennsylvania, says it also expects an increase in ridership for the same reasons.

"Amtrak ridership definitely has been surging the last couple of weeks," Remington said. "You've got a lot of state workers using the trains to get out of Harrisburg, and a lot of commuters going into Philadelphia. People in the Northeast part of the state are going to New York and back."

The story is the same for bus companies, even though many have raised fares up to 5 percent to offset rising gas prices.

Greyhound reported a 6 percent increase last month in ridership nationwide, to 1.7 million passengers, the highest number for February since 1985, said spokesman George Gravley. Still, the jump -- much of which came in the Northeast -- is not quite making up for increased expenses of purchasing fuel, he said.

"Our operating costs are lower for us than for people driving a car," Gravley said, "so people on a tighter budget are finding it more advantageous to ride with us."

Still, drivers don't appear ready to abandon their cars yet, at least those who take the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The Turnpike Commission reports that traffic increased 5.6 percent last month to about 620,000 cars -- an increase that is about normal for this time of year, said spokeswoman Kathy Liebler. She said it's too early to tell whether higher prices will affect traffic levels.

"I think people travel the turnpike because it gets them where they want to go," Liebler said. "When you think about it, because it is a direct route from A to B, they may get more value for their gas dollar."

For Roger Nelson, 66, and his wife Connie, 63, of Windsor Locks, Conn., the higher prices have meant a lot of penny-pinching to accommodate their car trips to Florida and Norristown, where their two children now live.

"We're both retired and on a fixed income so the increase has had a big effect on us," said Roger Nelson, as the couple took a driving break at a turnpike service plaza outside Harrisburg. "We don't have public transportation. So it's meant not going out to eat as much and buying fewer T-shirts for the grandchildren."

http://www.nola.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?d0477_PM_PA--GasPrices-Commute&&news&newsflash-financial

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 18, 2000