By Timothy B. Wheeler and Tyeesha Dixon , Sun reporters|May 13, 2008
As gasoline prices climb toward $4 a gallon, more commuters in Maryland are leaving their cars and trucks at home and hopping a bus or train to work.
The Maryland Transit Administration will seek approval next week to expand service on its long-distance bus lines to accommodate a surge of new riders. The so-called "commuter" buses ferry workers to Washington from places as far-flung as Hagerstown, Kent Island and Ellicott City.
The action comes at a time when ridership on almost all forms of transit - including subway, city bus and commuter rail - is up in Maryland and across the nation. Maryland's long-distance commuter bus lines handle just a fraction of all the people taking transit every day, but officials say those lines are among the most sensitive to rising fuel prices because of the distances riders must travel to and from work.
"Every time we see the large spikes in fuel prices, we see an almost immediate spike in the ridership numbers," MTA spokeswoman Jawauna M. Greene said yesterday. In recent months, she added, the growth has been "amazing," with as many as 1,000 new bus passes sold in a month.
As a result, the MTA has asked the state Board of Public Works to approve increases totaling nearly $3.5 million in what the state pays three bus companies to add extra runs on seven routes providing weekday service linking the capital with Howard County, Western and Southern Maryland, and the Eastern Shore. The board is expected to vote on the contracts next week.
Regular unleaded costs an average of $3.72 per gallon across the nation, according to the latest weekly price surveys released yesterday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That was also the average pump price found in the latest survey of Maryland stations by AAA Mid-Atlantic Inc. Just a month ago, the average price in Maryland was $3.33.
"Unfortunately, with the price of crude oil being as high as it is, the reality is gas prices probably will not be coming down anytime soon," said Ragina Averella, spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic. Indeed, prices typically spike around Memorial Day, with the advent of summer and vacation trips.
Unless crude oil prices drop substantially, gasoline could well reach $4 a gallon by month's end, predicted Doug MacIntyre, oil market analyst with the Energy Information Administration.
