Beating a Path to the Bus

Wisconsin State Journal :: BUSINESS :: E1
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Patricia Simms

With bus ridership climbing to a 20-year high and ride-to-work bikes selling briskly, some Madison commuters and businesses are beating gasoline prices with other wheels.

In February 2005, for example, St. Mary's Hospital became the first private employer in Madison to offer a bus pass program to its employees.

Today, 131 St. Mary's employees use the bus pass system, said hospital spokesman Sarah Carlson. Just since June, nearly 20 employees signed up.

Employees enroll by filling out a form and paying $5 per year. "The major benefits to St. Mary's are alleviating traffic congestion in the neighborhood and parking garage, and, of course, giving staff an alternative way to get to work," Carlson said. Join The Forum

"The bus pass program also fully covers the cost of paratransit rides for those who need it. For employees who suffer from a temporary or permanent illness that does not allow them to drive or get to a bus stop, the paratransit service will pick them up at their doorstep, take them to St. Mary's, and make the return trip at the end of the day."

Increasing interest from businesses in providing employee bus passes is one reason Metro Transit ridership was up almost 7 percent in the first half of 2006 compared to the same period in 2005, said Julie Maryott-Walsh, marketing and customer service manager for the bus company, but gas prices also have an impact.

"Our ridership has been up each month this year starting in January," Maryott-Walsh said. "I think gas prices have a good deal to do with it."

The Center for a New American Dream says American households spend more on transportation (about 19.3 percent of household expenditures) than food and health care combined.

A survey last September by GfK NOP, an international market research firm, reported that that the price point at which American consumers are ready to take action to save on gas starts at $2.50 per gallon.

"When fuel averages hit $2.50 per gallon," the Green Gauge Study said, "26 percent of Americans surveyed say they kept their most gas-guzzling vehicle in the garage as much as possible, and an additional 22 percent admit they tried to reduce the amount of time they spend on the road."

But $4 a gallon was the threshold at which about half of consumers say they would adopt new strategies to save on fuel: carpooling, walking, biking or using other forms of transportation, limiting total drive time, using their most gas-efficient vehicle, or immediately purchasing a more fuel-friendly car.

Gas prices didn't need to go that high to convince Larry Plymesser, a counselor at the Dane County Job Center on Aberg Avenue, that his 14- year-old Dodge van was best left in his garage.

About a year ago, Plymesser said he began making the 80-minute bus commute between work and his Far West Side home. It would take him half an hour if he drove his own car.

"For $47 a month," Plymesser said, "I can get a monthly bus pass, and I can go anywhere, anytime."

Besides, he said, he doesn't struggle with the traffic and parking - and he gets to read the newspaper on the way in.

As another alternative, Madison-area bike retailers report the increased popularity of bike-path bicycles and sale of accessories for packing work clothes for the commute.

"Certainly it has affected the number of people buying bikes," said Jeff Peters, manager of Erik's Bike Shop off Odana Road.

Peters said he commutes year-round by bike from his East Side home to his West Side job. During rush, hour, he said, the commute is 10 to 15 minutes faster by bike.

"I see people getting accessories to carry clothes and shoes to work," Peters said. "About $60 worth of accessories (will) allow you to carry a change of clothes, lights for riding after dark, and stuff like that."

Roger Charly, who owns Machinery Row Bicycles and Budget Bicycle Center, said the effect of high gas prices on bike sales is not instantaneous.

"The longer the gas price stays where it is, I think it has a cumulative effect," Charly said. "It's one more reason to use your bicycle. But if gas was $10 to $12 or more a gallon, then I think we'd see a lot of (bike) traffic right away."

But Charly said Madison's bike paths have a greater influence on his business than gas prices.

"For example, mountain bikes are losing popularity (to) bike-path bikes," he said. "That's because they are building more bike paths - and the baby boomers are getting older."

But rising gas prices aren't always good news for the bus business.

For example, fuel prices soak up a lot of the additional revenue Metro Transit gets from increased ridership "Gas prices are hitting us really hard," Maryott-Walsh said.

The result has been fare increases and, as of last weekend, schedule changes, she said.

"We are trying to do more with less," she said. "Our costs are rising, so we are trying to make our routes as efficient as possible."