Riders Could Pick Up Tab for Uptick at Pump

Record gasoline prices are having a ripple effect as local transit agencies, cab companies and school districts struggle to absorb the rising costs -- some of which are likely to be passed on to the public.

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s transportation department will ask the Board of Education today to increase its fuel budget for the upcoming school year to offset an expected 40% rise in diesel fuel prices, said David Palmer, the district’s deputy director of transportation.

Other school districts said that if fuel prices continue to rise, they would consider increasing the fees they charge students for school bus service.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority estimates that rising fuel costs will add at least $6.4 million to the agency’s bus budget this fiscal year. “At this point, we have no plans to raise fares,” said MTA spokesman Marc Littman. “We’ll seek funds from other areas in the budget. But it’s worrisome if it continues.”

The cost of catching a cab has already jumped in Orange and Riverside counties, and fares are expected to rise soon in Los Angeles and Ventura counties as well.

The Los Angeles Board of Taxicab Commissioners has asked the City Council to approve a 10% fare hike. The proposal includes a 50-cent surcharge that would kick in when the monthly average price of gas reaches $2.73 a gallon. A $1 surcharge could be added if the price of gas hits $3.28 a gallon.

The average price of regular unleaded gasoline reached $2.80 a gallon Monday in Los Angeles County, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. The statewide average hit $2.75, according to a survey by the Energy Information Administration, an arm of the U.S. Energy Department.

Cab drivers “are getting hurt by gas prices,” said Kia Tehrany, director of operations for Los Angeles Yellow Cab, which represents about 740 drivers. “When gas prices are high, they make the same income but pay more for gas. With gas at about $3 a gallon today, driving 250 to 300 miles per day with an eight-cylinder car, that’s about $25 a day in income that they’re losing.”

Cab drivers pay for their own gas, so the rising prices cut into their income.

Tehrany said an average cab driver earns $150 to $160 a day before gas money is deducted. Lately, he hasn’t been able to find enough drivers to keep up with demand. His company is about 60 drivers short, he said.

“They can probably make more money working at In-N-Out burger,” he said.

Beginning Sunday, cab fares in Orange County will increase by 6.9%, raising the price of a five-mile ride from $13.10 to $14. A ride from John Wayne Airport to Disneyland will increase to $39.50 from $37.

Ryan Lenington, operations manager at Yellow Cab in Ventura, said his company plans to ask the Ventura City Council about a rate increase.

Many of the 50 cabs operated by Yellow Cab across Ventura County are used by low-income people, Lenington said. Company officials try to strike a balance between being profitable and remaining affordable, he said.

“Our customers are people who are using public services,” he said. “It’s not like they’re swimming in wealth to begin with, and then they get zinged again.”

The Los Angeles school district is still trying to determine how much money it will need to cover rising fuel prices. It currently plans to absorb the costs, though officials are not sure where the money will come from.

“The money would have to come from other places in the budget,” Palmer said. “There’s not a lot of reserves or designated” funds.

The district’s fleet of 1,300 buses, and those of private firms contracted by the district, will carry 75,000 students to and from school every day starting Sept. 6.

“It’s actually affecting our whole fleet of district vehicles,” Palmer said of the rising fuel costs. “Most of our buses run on green diesel” or compressed natural gas. “There are very, very few gasoline buses remaining. But we have cars, light trucks and maintenance vehicles that run on gasoline as well.”

If fuel costs continue to rise after Labor Day, school officials in Simi Valley may be forced to seek additional funding from the school board, said John Burns, manager of student safety and transit. The other alternative would be to increase the rates charged to parents, currently $257 for a one-year pass, he said.

Ninety percent of the district’s 1,000 bus riders pay for the service, Burns said.

“Everything depends on what happens with pricing after Labor Day,” Burns said.

The Capistrano Unified School District in south Orange County raised bus fees by 10% last school year, long before the latest round of gas price increases. The school board is not contemplating raising fees this school year, but could next year.

“I doubt very much it would happen midstream, but it would not surprise me if I had to recommend increases again next year,” said Mike Patton, the district’s director of transportation.

Patton said the escalating gas prices would probably not affect field-trip service this year, but all transit services could be evaluated next year, including travel for school sports events.

If fuel prices move toward $4 a gallon, Patton said, an entire way of life for school districts could be threatened. “Everybody’s afraid of the big yellow bus becoming a dinosaur,” he said. “Ultimately, if fuel gets too expensive, eliminating the school bus is an option.”

For now, school officials and cab drivers are waiting to see how prices change in the next few weeks.

Several oil analysts predict that fuel costs would begin to level off after Labor Day, which would be good news for Ventura County cab operator Anthony Woodworth.

The money squeeze is getting tighter, Woodworth said, but he’s not going to give up the job.

“I’ve been driving a cab for three years, so I’m used to this,” he said of price fluctuations. “What can you do?”

Times staff writers Susana Enriquez, Mai Tran and Dave McKibben contributed to this report.