(continued...)
Beyond Business
Not surprisingly, volunteer-based
programs and charities are suffering,
too. Ellen Hoyt, Executive Director of
Northland Meals on Wheels Program,
said, “Our biggest issue right now is
recruiting new volunteers. Many people are thinking they can’t afford to drive
and deliver meals everyday. In our
program they only have to drive once a
week.” But gas is still an issue. “We try
to provide gas cards to our volunteers,
and welcome donations of gas cards.
That doesn’t offer total reimbursement
to our volunteers, but every bit helps.”
Officials at Park University in Parkville are watching the fuel price spike very carefully this summer, and with good reason. A recent survey of its students showed that the average roundtrip commute to class is 30.6 miles.
“Gas started to spike at the end of spring semester, so we won’t know the full effect of the higher gas prices until fall semester starts in August,” said Park University President Beverly Byers-Pevitts. Fortunately, the school had already established a Climate Commitment Commission, dedicated to making the campus carbon neutral within seven years. With those efforts already in motion, the university is already considering or plans on implementing steps to help faculty, staff and students save on fuel.
“We will open a new 250-bed residence hall this August,” she said. “We have posted an online calculator so our students can determine whether they can save money by living on campus. We have joined Mid-America Regional Council’s Carpool Connection, and are encouraging students, faculty and staff to carpool using MARC’s online tools.’
She said the Parkville campus this summer is testing flexible scheduling which allows some employees to try a four-day work week (at 10 hours a day), thus reducing roundtrips by 20 percent.
All Aboard
With all the attention paid to light
rail transit proposals the past few years,
a change has been quietly brewing in
the region’s existing form
of public transportation.
“As gas prices have been soaring, bus ridership has increased about 10 percent from last year,” said Cindy Baker, Director of Marketing for the Kansas City Area Transit Authority. “We now have more than 55,000 boardings each week day. As a result we are experiencing some overcrowding, especially in the express routes from the suburbs. These buses are at capacity with standing loads. People who never dreamed that they would try public transit are giving it a try, and are happy with the results. Now that gas has hit more than $4, more people are ready to make a behavior change and stop driving as much”
While more workers from all parts of the city are saving money and gas by riding MAX and other KCATA buses, the system is in overdrive in its efforts to keep offering affordable service and an extensive route map to its riders.
“In the past, we have had some
really smart purchasing of fuel contracts
that have locked in good pricing,
but that is no longer the case. We are
really hard hit, and we will be looking
into our service and investigating fare
increases that could go into effect in
2009. Also, we are looking at the routes
that do not have capacity, and we are
considering putting a smaller bus on
those routes and moving the larger bus
to a busier route. This is one short term
fix. In the long term, we have to find a
new funding source, since we believe
ridership is going to continue to build.”
