Gas prices a boon for public transit

Jan Cureton of Palmer and Wasilla resident Michael Gilbert are among the growing number of Valley residents finding relief from escalating gas prices.

Both commute daily to Anchorage for their jobs and both are using alternative transportation options to save more than $400 a month on gasoline. Cureton pays $100 a month for unlimited use of Valley Mover buses that run daily from the park-and-ride lot near Mat-Su Regional Medical Center into Anchorage. Gilbert is among a group of vanpool riders who split transportation costs in the Share-A-Ride program.

As gas prices continue to rise above $4 a gallon for regular unleaded, and are expected to soar going into the peak summer months, groups like Valley Mover, Share-A-Ride and Mat-Su Community Transit (MASCOT) are reaping the benefits. Although the programs boast obvious ecological benefits, there’s no beating the benefit of a fatter wallet to motivate drivers to consider transportation alternatives.

We appreciate lower gasoline prices for personal use like everyone else, but if there’s one silver lining to this most recent pinch at the pump — it’s opening some eyes to the benefits of carpooling, vanpooling, taking the bus or even riding your bicycle, if the situation warrants.

The state Department of Transportation estimates that if a family with two commuters has one person leave the car at home and take a bus or van, that family could save up to $800 a month. Along with saving on gas, there’s less wear-and-tear on vehicles, less wear on public roads and a little less congestion during peak travel times on the Glenn Highway. In fact, the DOT estimates about 4 percent of rush-hour traffic is made up of Share-A-Ride vans.

If you don’t commute, MASCOT is opening new express routes between Wasilla and Palmer and from Knik-Goose Bay Road to Wasilla. Along with its regular circular service, there are more options to save for those out and about in the Valley.

We’re pleased to see this progress for MASCOT, which is a 180-degree turn for an organization that in September 2009 was facing a $400,000 budget shortfall and had to lay off nine employees, including all but one of its drivers.

All these alternatives to running the gas-guzzler all over Southcentral aren’t new. The economic and environmental benefits of fewer vehicles on our roadways are more pronounced as we continue our record growth, which the U.S. Census puts at 50 percent for the Mat-Su Borough over the past 10 years.

If you had considered public transportation in the past but considered it too inconvenient, perhaps the rising gasoline prices will be more of a motivator. They were for Gilbert. What does he do with that extra $400 a month?

“Spend it on other things,” he said. “Well, my wife does.”