Pooling rides an option to combat gas prices

By: Emily Hoffman

Much like the frog sitting in a pot of water slowly coming to a boil, commuters facing increasing gas prices haven't leaped from their sport utility vehicles and trucks.

Darrin Dressler, employer outreach coordinator for Mid-America Regional Council, said gas prices of more than $3 a gallon hadn't driven consumers to look for other options for their daily commutes.

“I'd say it's remained steady from before, when we had a gas-price increase,” Dressler said. “The $3 gas threshold is not as much a motivator as it was when Katrina hit.”

Directly after Hurricane Katrina, Dressler said MARC saw a spike in people looking for options for their commutes. He said the whole country was in crisis mode then. Now, commuters are becoming desensitized to the high gas prices.

“The price keeps increasing. People get used to that price,” Dressler said. “People are a little bit used to $3 a gallon.”

He said he didn't think commuters, or drivers in general, would begin to look for alternatives until gas hit $4 a gallon.

For those that are feeling the squeeze on their checkbooks, Dressler said there were programs that could help Kearney residents ease the cost of their commutes.

One option Kearney residents can take part in is the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority's AdVANtage Vanpool.

Kearney resident, Trent Glamann, who commutes downtown, joined the program.

“It comes down from Cameron and picks us up on the way through,” Glamann said.

The van makes a stop downtown at Lab Core and AT&T, where Glamann works.

A few people from Kearney were carpooling until Glamann began searching for bus prices and stumbled across the transportation authority's Web site on the AdVANtage Vanpool program. Instead of fighting traffic and worrying about car repairs and increasing gas prices, he pays $100 a month for the vanpool. That cost will decrease down to $80 if they get two more people to join. Glamann said he was happy with the vanpool. He said enjoyed having others to ride to work with and liked the camaraderie that came with sharing the ride.

For those Kearney commuters that are feeling the pinch of high gas prices and can't find a vanpool, Mid-America Regional Council RideShare program offers a solution.

RideShare is a commuter matching service for anyone who lives, works or attends school in the greater Kansas City area or within 75 miles of downtown Kansas City.

Dressler said he would also like to get the word out to businesses about RideShare and other options that can help employees save money on gas and commute to work in a more environmentally friendly fashion.

The program, which began during the energy crisis in the late 70s, originally included only employees of Kansas City. That expanded in the mid-80s to become the regional program it is today. MARC has administered the program for about 22 years.

Commuters submit their name with a request to carpool. Marge Gasnick, who oversees the RideShare program for MARC, gets information about where commuters are coming from and where they going and plugs it into a database.

Commuters then get a list of names of people who live and work close by and contact information. There is also the option of riding a commuter bus. There is a pick-up station near Liberty.

Commuters save money with RideShare and AdVANtage Vanpool. The average commuter who drives 20 miles round trip to work or school each day spends more than $2,000 a year on those trips alone. Driving a car less often reduces the amount of gasoline purchased and maintenance needed to operate it. Some insurance companies offer discounts for reduced driving.

Using RideShare is flexible. Drivers don't have to share a ride every single day but can choose days that work the best.

Riding with someone else is convenient. Some carpool or vanpool arrangements are as near door-to-door as can be arranged, which means commuters don't have to search for parking or worry about parking fees. Others meet in well-known locations. Glamann's vanpool meets at the Orscheln Farm & Home parking lot.

Driving less improves air quality. People who live in the Kansas City area make an average of 10.6 trips in their vehicles every day. Carpooling, mass transit and combining errands result in cleaner air, less congestion and less noise. According to MARC, carpooling with one other person just three days a week can cut individual ozone-producing emissions by 30 percent.

For those who live and work in Kearney and don't need to commute downtown, biking to work can save on gas and help the environment. Deb Ridgeway, who works for Bridging the Gap, headed up Bike to Work week in the Kansas City area earlier this month.

“One person can make a great difference by choosing to leave their car parked not just for work trips, but all those other trips to the store, library, post office, bank, et cetera,” Ridgeway said. “If it's a trip that is less than five miles, consider biking.”

That's because trips that are five miles or less that are the most polluting because the engine is cold and therefore is not operating at its greatest efficiency.

Kearney Editor Emily Hoffman can be reached at 628-6010 or ehoffman@kearneycourier.com.