"They've got to get limos," Kane said.
Limousine companies are undertaking other cost-control measures. Leaving the engine idling outside an event is a thing of the past. And some drivers carpool to grab a bite to eat while waiting for the prom to end. Vallard sometimes delivers dinner to his drivers.
Many companies limit the number of stops on prom night, Rogers said. But they haven't gone completely utilitarian. Vallard encourages his drivers to take the scenic route for prom trips.
"We take the back roads," he said. "We're not over-glorified taxis."
The organizers of the Oakland Mills event primarily had safety in mind when they arranged for two buses to take students to the prom at the National Aquarium in Baltimore and to the Columbia Gym in Clarksville for an after-prom party. But it soon become clear that economics played a large role.
Though interest among students for the $10 bus tickets was lukewarm early on, a rush of takers in the last days before the prom led organizers to line up a third bus.
"All of the kids thought it was a crazy idea, but when they started looking at the costs - and gas was one of them - the kids started to buy into the PTA plan," said Vincent James, a teacher in the gifted and talented program at Oakland Mills.
Other students rode a different kind of bus. Smith and her friends rented a "party" bus, which they described as a smaller version of a Howard County transit bus. It turned out to be hipper than they thought.
"I thought it was more fun," Smith said. "It was cooler."
Other Oakland Mills students looked no further than their driveway to solve their transportation problem. Along with her boyfriend and another couple, Stephanie Gianni hopped into her mother's Hummer. The popular SUV rates highly as an attention-getting ride, but Gianni enjoyed an added feature that was unavailable from limousine operators.
"My mom bought the gas," the 17-year-old junior said.
john-john.williams@baltsun.com
