Gas prices lead some to seek alternative transportation

HUNTINGTON -- Kim Spaulding has been feeling shorter lately. But only on the roads.

The Huntington mother of two teenagers just traded in her Ford Escape sport-utility vehicle for a small but more gas-efficient Honda Civic.

"When I put $100 of fuel in my tank last week, I realized I can no longer do this," Spaulding said on Thursday. "It would have been $150 by the end of the week."

Filling up her SUV's gas tank easily cost $50 a pop, she said. With the gas mileage of her new Honda Civic, she's cutting about half her gas costs. As someone who drives to Charleston twice a week for her administrative job with Prestera, it's going to be a big help.

She's one of many Tri-Staters who have taken action in response to this year's runup in gas prices. Dealers say that many shoppers are buying smaller, more compact cars and continuing to buy hybrids as quickly as the dealerships can get them. Ridership on Tri-State Transit Authority buses was up 8 percent in March and 9 percent in April, compared with those months of 2007, said Vickie Shaffer, TTA's chief executive officer. Bicycle sales are good as well, said bike shop owner Jeff Joy.

Gas prices are back around $4 after rising to $4.19 in Huntington for Memorial Day weekend. According to AAA, it meant a decrease in travel for that holiday weekend, and the state reported there was a 7 percent drop in passenger car traffic on the West Virginia Turnpike over the same period -- just a couple signs that the demand for gasoline is starting to give.

A month ago, gasoline was selling for about $3.64 a gallon, and last year at this time the price was about $3.25. Those people with vehicles using diesel fuel have taken an even bigger hit. Diesel's average price is now about $4.63 a gallon; a year ago diesel sold for about $2.78, according to AAA.

Despite the soaring costs, many Tri-Staters are slow to change. Some need those minivans to cart the kids to Little League games, and others are keeping the full-size pickup for their contracting jobs. But an increasing number are starting to bend, slowly but unquestionably.

Elizabeth Rutherford is one person who's decided that cycling to work, even a couple times a week, is adding a little meat back into the family budget.

She doesn't travel long distances for her job at the Cabell County Library but still finds that taking the bike instead of the Nissan XTerra, which gets 18 miles a gallon, is a financially wise move.

So twice a week, she gets on the bicycle, which has a trailer for her 3-year-old daughter. She drops her daughter off at a downtown day care center before heading to work.

"It's about four miles from our house in Huntington," she said. "To get in the car and drive downtown, it takes 12 or 13 minutes. To get on the bike and ride, it takes 30 minutes."

The bike has a flag and lights to make sure motorists can see them clearly, but the area "is getting better at seeing bikers on the road," said Rutherford, who also rides bikes with her husband for exercise.

The change in habit already is making a small difference on the gas bill, she said. "Before, I was filling up every seven days," Rutherford said. "If I can ride a bike twice a week, it's nine or 10 days before I fill up again."

There's been an increase in sales of bicycles made for riding in town, as well as an increase in service, as more riders want get their bikes ready to ride in town, said Joy of Jeff's Bike Shop.

"I think people realize that riding two or three miles to work is no big deal," Joy said. More people realize that it not only saves on gas money but helps them squeeze some exercise into their schedules, he said. Some people ride their bikes to town from home and then shower at the YMCA before going to work, Joy said.

But for some people who choose to keep driving, the solution has come in the form of buying a different kind of car, whether a compact car or a hybrid. Dealers say that hybrids are usually pre-ordered, and there's been a steady flow of orders coming in and off the lots.

David Larch, sales manager for Moses Honda Volkswagen, said the biggest increase is in compact cars.

Moses sells a hybrid Honda Civic, and will introduce some new lines of hybrids within the next year, he said.

The Civic hybrids sell as quickly as the dealer gets them, Larch said. But if you're looking at just the financial aspect -- and not taking into account the environmental benefits of a hybrid -- the hybrid's best pay-off is for drivers who spend a lot of time on the road, he said.

"Some people buy hybrids that really don't drive much, and it's really not worth it," Larch said. "You need to drive at least 15,000 to 20,000 miles a year to really see the benefit of a hybrid."

The hybrid gets 41 to 45 miles per gallon while the regular Civic gets 34 to 38. The hybrid costs about $3,000 more to purchase, Larch said.

What's hottest right now is basically just a small car, he said. "I'm sold out of Civics. I've been here seven years, and I've never seen that.

"Any small or compact car that gets in the low to mid 30s (in gas mileage) is just flying off the lot," Larch said. "The trouble is everybody wants to trade SUVs, and they're taking a hit. Dealers can't sell them."

David Ball, sales manager of Advantage Toyota and Scion, said his dealership's biggest sellers have been and continue to be the Toyota Corolla and the Camry. In hybrids, it sells a Camry hybrid and the Prius.

The Prius takes about six to 10 weeks for orders, costs upward of $24,000 and gets 46 to 48 miles per gallon. But again, the dealership's biggest seller is just a smaller car.

"Our biggest increase is the 2009 Corolla. It has a new design," Ball said.

Ralph Fugett, general manager Dutch Miller Kia Suzuki, said he's seen an increase in demand for the Chevrolet Impala. "The Kia Spectra and Optima are about three times more in demand this year than last year," he said.

Small motorcycles and scooters are selling, too, said salesman Denny Moore of Honda Motorcycles, ATVs and Scooters.

But even in today's economic climate, some are still buying bigger vehicles. Promotions help.

Sam Spurlock, general manager of Bill Spurlock Dodge, said Chrysler Corp. is offering buyers an option of getting a rebate or a gas card that guarantees them that they won't have to pay more than $2.99 a gallon for gas over three years. The way the gas card works is that a buyer gives a credit card number to Chrysler, and anytime that card is used for gas costing more than $2.99, Chrysler will cover the difference (up to a certain amount, depending on the model) for three years.

"Our bread and butter, our Caravan, continues to sell every month. It doesn't matter," Spurlock said. When families get to a certain size, they need their minivans, he said. The Journey, a crossover between a car and a van, is selling well, too.

"People are still spending money and are still going to go on vacation," Spurlock said. "School is getting out, and people are going to do their thing. You get that week of vacation per year, and they're going to go.

"Instead of spending $100 on dinner every night, they're going to eat at the hotel. They're going to change their spending, but they're still going to go on vacation."