xcel
05-29-2006, 05:09 PM
Moving, catching bus among options. (http://www.theolympian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060506/NEWS/60506001/1003)
Jim Szymanski - The Olympian - May 06, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Sleeping_in_your_car.jpg
Steven M. Herppich/The Olympian
Because of the cost of gasoline, Margie Engle of Lacey decides to sleep in her 1987 Ford Crown Victoria in the parking lot where she works in Centralia rather than make the commute back again on Saturday morning.
Most consumers are grudgingly learning to live with rising gasoline prices, which set another record on Friday.
But some are changing the way they live to deal with high prices, moving closer to where they work to shorten their commutes or taking the bus or van pool to avoid using their cars.
And a Lacey woman, feeling the financial squeeze one day last week, slept in her car after she finished work rather than spend the $10 a day it costs to commute to her part-time job in Chehalis.
“To be honest, I would do it again,” said Margie Engle, 57, who bundled up to sleep in her Ford Crown Victoria. “I slept just fine. It's a big car.”
There's no immediate price relief in sight, according to the daily AAA - Washington price survey.
Average South Sound prices reached a record $3.08 for a gallon of regular unleaded, the survey found. The price was 60 cents a gallon more than a year ago, and 44 cents higher than a month ago.
Overall, economists say consumers are grudgingly adjusting. Unemployment is low, home values are appreciating, and retail spending remains healthy despite rising energy prices, they say.
But economic development officials are keeping an eye on gas prices, which could eventually put a crimp in the region's strong real estate market.
South Sound home sales overall this year were up 6 percent through April. Thurston County median prices are lower than in Pierce and King counties, which prompts some buyers who work in those counties to buy homes in Thurston County and make the longer commute north.
But that advantage eventually could disappear if gasoline prices get too high, said Michael Cade, executive director of the Economic Development Council of Thurston County.
“Somewhere that balance starts to tip in a different direction,” Cade said. “But does it tip at three dollars a gallon or five dollars? I don't think it's three dollars a gallon.”
Some consumers feel more financial pain than others.
“It sort of depends on where you're beginning economically,” said Katia Shkurkin, an assistant sociology professor at Saint Martin's University. The less money you make, the more it hurts and the more you must adjust your life, she said.
“We have single mothers here (Saint Martin's) who are living on loans,” Shkurkin said. “They have day care costs to meet. They have to have a car. High gasoline prices are a major stressor.”
Shkurkin offered an academic term to explain why consumers overall have not shown outrage over gas prices.
“It's called ‘learned helplessness,' ” she said. “Most of us have difficulty changing any behavior unless it makes us very uncomfortable.”
There are signs that the rising prices are causing more people to adjust their habits.
Intercity Transit reports that bus ridership was up about 10 percent in the first quarter of this year; van-pool ridership was up 28 percent in March compared with a year ago, IT spokeswoman Kris Fransen said.
“Our van-pool people say that as soon as gas prices go up, their call volumes go up,” Fransen said.
The link between gas prices and bus ridership is less reliable, she said, because IT has been running buses more frequently on some routes and adding night service.
For the time being, Engle said, she would sleep in her car again if money gets tight or until she can either increase her hours at a Chehalis store where she works or find work closer to home.
“I see it (sleeping in the car) as an option; I honestly do,” she said.
Many others in South Sound have made less drastic adjustments, including:
• Grant Hensel, a state employee who commutes to the General Administration Department from his home in Elma.
Until a week ago, Hensel said he was making the 30-minute drive in his Honda, which he said gets about 30 mpg. Rising gasoline prices prompted Hensel to switch to commuting 50 minutes each way via Grays Harbor Transit.
The round-trip bus fare is $4, $3 less than it was costing him to drive. He also qualifies for a bus pass that allows state workers to ride IT for free in the county.
“Taking the bus is pretty darned convenient, and it seems to be working,” Hensel said. “And when you read on the bus, it seems like you get to work even faster.”
Hensel said he burned less than a gallon of gasoline in the Honda this week.
“Also, riding the bus means less wear and tear on my car,” he said.
• Denise Roselle, a single mother of a 16-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter, has moved within walking distance of Rochester Middle School, where she teaches, from Montesano. She estimated she's saving about $200 a month by being able to walk to work, to the grocery and to her volunteer activities.
“When I had the long commute, I was barely making it financially,” she said. “Now everything is within a block of my house.”
Roselle is using the savings to invest in her children. She said she bought them classes to bone up for the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
• Jeff Givani has cut out spending money on entertainment now that higher gasoline prices have cut into his income. He commutes from Tacoma while studying at Saint Martin's University in Lacey.
“Every two or three days, I have to fill up,” he said. “The higher prices are killing me.”
Givani, 19, works two jobs but lives with his parents so that he can pay his bills for fuel, food and a cellular phone.
“I'm scraping from both my jobs to pay my bills,” he said. “I wouldn't be able to make it right now if I weren't living at home.”
To help out, Givani said he has all but stopped buying video games or going out to dinner.
“I try to save my money,” he said. “I don't have the money to buy that stuff anymore.”
Jim Szymanski - The Olympian - May 06, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Sleeping_in_your_car.jpg
Steven M. Herppich/The Olympian
Because of the cost of gasoline, Margie Engle of Lacey decides to sleep in her 1987 Ford Crown Victoria in the parking lot where she works in Centralia rather than make the commute back again on Saturday morning.
Most consumers are grudgingly learning to live with rising gasoline prices, which set another record on Friday.
But some are changing the way they live to deal with high prices, moving closer to where they work to shorten their commutes or taking the bus or van pool to avoid using their cars.
And a Lacey woman, feeling the financial squeeze one day last week, slept in her car after she finished work rather than spend the $10 a day it costs to commute to her part-time job in Chehalis.
“To be honest, I would do it again,” said Margie Engle, 57, who bundled up to sleep in her Ford Crown Victoria. “I slept just fine. It's a big car.”
There's no immediate price relief in sight, according to the daily AAA - Washington price survey.
Average South Sound prices reached a record $3.08 for a gallon of regular unleaded, the survey found. The price was 60 cents a gallon more than a year ago, and 44 cents higher than a month ago.
Overall, economists say consumers are grudgingly adjusting. Unemployment is low, home values are appreciating, and retail spending remains healthy despite rising energy prices, they say.
But economic development officials are keeping an eye on gas prices, which could eventually put a crimp in the region's strong real estate market.
South Sound home sales overall this year were up 6 percent through April. Thurston County median prices are lower than in Pierce and King counties, which prompts some buyers who work in those counties to buy homes in Thurston County and make the longer commute north.
But that advantage eventually could disappear if gasoline prices get too high, said Michael Cade, executive director of the Economic Development Council of Thurston County.
“Somewhere that balance starts to tip in a different direction,” Cade said. “But does it tip at three dollars a gallon or five dollars? I don't think it's three dollars a gallon.”
Some consumers feel more financial pain than others.
“It sort of depends on where you're beginning economically,” said Katia Shkurkin, an assistant sociology professor at Saint Martin's University. The less money you make, the more it hurts and the more you must adjust your life, she said.
“We have single mothers here (Saint Martin's) who are living on loans,” Shkurkin said. “They have day care costs to meet. They have to have a car. High gasoline prices are a major stressor.”
Shkurkin offered an academic term to explain why consumers overall have not shown outrage over gas prices.
“It's called ‘learned helplessness,' ” she said. “Most of us have difficulty changing any behavior unless it makes us very uncomfortable.”
There are signs that the rising prices are causing more people to adjust their habits.
Intercity Transit reports that bus ridership was up about 10 percent in the first quarter of this year; van-pool ridership was up 28 percent in March compared with a year ago, IT spokeswoman Kris Fransen said.
“Our van-pool people say that as soon as gas prices go up, their call volumes go up,” Fransen said.
The link between gas prices and bus ridership is less reliable, she said, because IT has been running buses more frequently on some routes and adding night service.
For the time being, Engle said, she would sleep in her car again if money gets tight or until she can either increase her hours at a Chehalis store where she works or find work closer to home.
“I see it (sleeping in the car) as an option; I honestly do,” she said.
Many others in South Sound have made less drastic adjustments, including:
• Grant Hensel, a state employee who commutes to the General Administration Department from his home in Elma.
Until a week ago, Hensel said he was making the 30-minute drive in his Honda, which he said gets about 30 mpg. Rising gasoline prices prompted Hensel to switch to commuting 50 minutes each way via Grays Harbor Transit.
The round-trip bus fare is $4, $3 less than it was costing him to drive. He also qualifies for a bus pass that allows state workers to ride IT for free in the county.
“Taking the bus is pretty darned convenient, and it seems to be working,” Hensel said. “And when you read on the bus, it seems like you get to work even faster.”
Hensel said he burned less than a gallon of gasoline in the Honda this week.
“Also, riding the bus means less wear and tear on my car,” he said.
• Denise Roselle, a single mother of a 16-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter, has moved within walking distance of Rochester Middle School, where she teaches, from Montesano. She estimated she's saving about $200 a month by being able to walk to work, to the grocery and to her volunteer activities.
“When I had the long commute, I was barely making it financially,” she said. “Now everything is within a block of my house.”
Roselle is using the savings to invest in her children. She said she bought them classes to bone up for the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
• Jeff Givani has cut out spending money on entertainment now that higher gasoline prices have cut into his income. He commutes from Tacoma while studying at Saint Martin's University in Lacey.
“Every two or three days, I have to fill up,” he said. “The higher prices are killing me.”
Givani, 19, works two jobs but lives with his parents so that he can pay his bills for fuel, food and a cellular phone.
“I'm scraping from both my jobs to pay my bills,” he said. “I wouldn't be able to make it right now if I weren't living at home.”
To help out, Givani said he has all but stopped buying video games or going out to dinner.
“I try to save my money,” he said. “I don't have the money to buy that stuff anymore.”