Commuters Railroaded by Gas Prices

With her doll in hand, 3-year-old Mara O’Neal experienced her first Metrolink train ride Monday, with her aunt Andrea Hernandez. The “girls day out,” as Hernandez called the trip, was to the Los Angeles Zoo.

The 19-year-old said she opted to take her niece on Metrolink to Union Station for one leg of their trip because Hernandez’s 1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass was on loan to her boyfriend until gas prices fall dramatically.

Hernandez estimated that she used to spend about $20 to fill her tank. Now, she said, rising gas prices have increased the cost to about $50.

“I don’t drive as far as I used to” because of the rising prices, she said. “It’s ridiculous.”

As prices at the pump creep toward $3 a gallon for regular unleaded, more people are opting for public transportation, local officials say. For example, Metrolink ridership increased by 7% for the first quarter of 2005 over the same period last year, spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said.

Numbers tell one story, but commuters tell their own. Here are some of the stories coming out of Union Station on Monday morning.

Patricia Barton, 45, was between stops as she walked toward her 11:20 a.m. San Bernardino Line train headed for Cal State L.A., where she is a teaching assistant. During the previous school quarter, Barton drove her 2003 Dodge Ram two hours to the campus from her Lancaster home and almost three hours back during rush hour. She said her truck guzzled half a tank of gas each way.

Barton said she sees people from all walks of life taking Metrolink, including Disney executives on their daily commute. As Barton studies for her master’s degree in sociology, she said, the train saves her time, money and energy.

“It’s four hours a day to study, and it makes the highways less congested,” she said. “And overall, it’s a pleasant ride.”

Julian Freeman, who attends Loyola University, said the school encourages students to take public transportation by paying for a portion of the student fare.

Freeman, holding a textbook, said he uses his commute time from Fullerton to relax and study. He said gas prices seemed to have contributed to a sharp increase in commuter parking near the Fullerton train station, with cars now spilling into the residential area.

“If you’re not there before 7 a.m., you will not get a spot,” he said of the train station near his home.

Redlands resident Justin Robinson said his 2005 Ford F-150 now consumes $100 in gas a week.

“Gas goes quick, especially when you have a big truck like mine,” he said. “When it’s just for local driving, it’s perfectly fine.”

Christine Reed, who works at City Hall, knows all about gas-guzzlers. Reed owns four vehicles but opted to leave her 2001 Ford F-150 at her Pomona home and drive her 2000 Chevy Malibu to a free parking lot near the Pomona North Metrolink station. She said the $53.25 she spends for every 10-ride pass is far less than what she would spend if she drove, including about $60 a week in gas. The high gas prices and the daily wear and tear on her cars have caused her to rely on Metrolink, she said.

But Reed expressed concern that Metrolink would raise fares with the increased ridership.

In fact, Tyrrell said three public hearings will be announced soon to discuss a possible 1.5% fare increase prompted by high fuel costs and insurance prices. She said Metrolink would also introduce a Web page allowing the public to comment on the possible new increase over the Internet.

“We find that we get the most response online and that public hearings are getting less and less attention,” she said.

Tyrrell said that in a March Metrolink survey, 10% of new riders said the cost of gas had caused them to change the way they commute.

“We’re getting very close to capacity but haven’t reached it yet,” Tyrrell said.

She said that in March 2004, 10,978 commuters rode the San Bernardino Metrolink. This year, she said, the number was 12,031.

“In San Bernardino you can see the problem: The gas prices are miserable and the nature of the commute -- that’s a long hike for those people,” Tyrrell said.

Tyrrell said Metrolink would consider additional service for commuters if ridership continues to increase.