With cost at over $4 per gallon, Liam Brockey, professor of European history at MSU, hastily fills up his gas tank. Brockey often walks to campus and as gas prices continue to rise during the summer he is an advocate of public transportation.
When commuting by bicycle to and from work every week, Chad Cottom said he sees more and more people on the roads biking.
Cottom, the owner of SPIN Bicycle Shop, 206 E. Grand River Ave., in Lansing, said traditionally the majority of bike commuters lived close to where they worked. Now, with the high gas prices, more people are commuting further distances.
“We’ve definitely seen an increase in bike sales, and we’ve seen an increase specifically in people buying bikes for commuting,” he said.
This highlights the larger issue that, with gas prices at a two-year high and warmer weather overall, more people are looking to put a damper on their driving habits and find alternate forms of transportation.
Cottom said commuting by bicycle is a way to combine transportation, recreation and exercise.
“It’s getting more and more popular,” he said. “It’s awesome.”
He said the more bike commuters, the more motorists become accustomed to cyclists, which creates a safer biking environment overall.
Henrik Jansson, a recent MSU graduate, said he had a car on campus, and the high gas prices really did not effect his driving habits.
“I think it was more convenient than taking the bus,” he said.
However, he said he wishes more people would take the bus because it is better for the environment.
Sandy Draggoo, the CEO of the Capital Area Transportation Authority, or CATA, bus system, said they have seen an increase in rides in the last several months, which possibly could be related to gas prices.
In comparison to April 2010, MSU fixed bus route rides were up 8.5 percent in April 2011. Twenty-five percent of CATA riders come from MSU.
“The total ridership is up 6.6 percent,” Draggoo said.
She said CATA uses 1 million gallons of fuel in a year, but it has clean fuel buses.
“We’ve got 23 hybrid diesel-electric buses in our fleet now, and we’re getting three more this fall,” she said.
Julie Fuller, an accounting office assistant at the Student Book Store, 421 E. Grand River Ave., said the store saw a 20 percent increase in CATA bus pass sales in April 2011 compared to April 2010.
Fuller said although the increase in sales could have been because of the colder April weather, another possible reason could have been the high gas prices.
She said the passes are purchased mostly by students, but there are regular adult purchasers as well.
“It’s a good alternative to driving their car around town,” Fuller said.
Brian Stehlik, the store manager of the East Lansing BP gas station, 504 Michigan Ave., said they have not seen a decrease in gas purchases since prices have risen.
“Not other than fluctuations expected by students leaving for the summer,” Stehlik said.
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Stehlik said he personally still drives just as much, especially because he cannot avoid driving to work.
He said people are aware of the high prices, but if they change anything, it might just be elective driving, such as a vacation.
Hunter Seyfarth, the owner of Evergreen Cycles and Repair, 314 Evergreen Ave., said there definitely has been an increase in biking due to the rising gas prices.
He said more people have brought in old bikes looking for tuneups since gas prices started rising. Seyfarth added that most of his customers live within two and four miles of their workplace and can end up saving around $25 by the end of a week.
Chenyang Gu, a statistics graduate student at MSU, said while he knows gas prices are very high, luckily he lives close to campus.
“Usually I walk to school, but sometimes I take the bus,” he said.
