More people choosing mass transit as gas prices remain high

More people are turning to public transit as gasoline costs settle in the $5 per gallon range across the region.

Westmoreland County Transit Authority has experienced a 30% increase in bus ridership since gas prices started climbing, said Ashley Cooper-Brounce, the authority’s deputy director.

“We just recently looked at the last three months — March, April and May — compared to the same months in 2021. We really noticed the uptick around the beginning of March when gas prices really started increasing,” she said, adding that WCTA expects ridership to continue to go up.

“We were holding steady on ridership for months and months. (Recently), our Route 9, Latrobe-Derry Area, had 35 passengers on the bus, and that’s been unheard of. So we’re definitely connecting that to high gas prices.”

Alan Blahovec, the authority’s executive director, said he believes a combination of the higher gas prices and more people returning to the workplace is driving the increase.

Pittsburgh Regional Transit saw ridership about double in April from the year before, said spokesman Adam Brandolph, though he could not say what exactly was driving the demand.

“In April, we averaged over 111,000 riders on weekdays on bus and rail and incline,” Brandolph said. “Buses averaged 104,000 weekday riders in April, which is twice as many riders as we had in April 2021. Rail ridership averaged 6,200 total riders on weekdays in April, slightly more than 2021.

“There were about 750 weekday riders on the Mon Incline, roughly the same as the previous year, to account for the rest.”

‘Save as much as you can’

By taking an express bus to Pittsburgh from a park ‘n ride along Route 30 at Carpenter Lane in North Huntingdon, Jennifer Lepley of North Huntingdon said she not only is saving money on gas, but wear-and-tear on her car.

“It is cheaper when you add up the gas and the (cost of) parking” all day in Pittsburgh, Lepley said.

In addition to the cost, there’s a chance to decompress on the bus from the stress of the work day, before starting the second job at home, especially when she had young children, said Tracy Plassio of North Huntingdon.

“There’s no driving on the Parkway East. It’s just easier,” Plassio said.

Pande Suanjaya, 39, was about to board a Red Line train headed for Pittsburgh’s North Shore after parking his 2020 Toyota Camry in the Park and Ride lot in Dormont. He was with his wife and 3- and 5-year-old daughters. 

“With gas being $5 a gallon, you have to save as much as you can,” he said. “Also, it’s free to park here. When you drive Downtown, you have to pay for parking. If I’m just going Downtown to enjoy it, I’d rather park somewhere else and take the T.”

Suanjaya’s wife, Dormont native Diana Davidson, 33, said she has preferred taking the T since she was in college but really appreciates it now. Davidson said she and her husband are driving less often because of the high gas prices.

“If you think about it, two tanks of gas now is like $140, and we have one of the most fuel-efficient cars, a Toyota Camry. So it’s just ridiculous,” Davidson said. “I just can’t imagine having an SUV or a truck.”

Mt. Lebanon native Danielle Kaminski, 24, is an Ohio State Law School student working a summer job as a law clerk at the Bordas and Bordas law firm Downtown. She parks her 2008 Hyundai Accent at the Dormont Park and Ride and takes the Red Line into the city.

“I’m definitely saving money,” Kaminski said. “I’m not driving into the city. And then you sit in traffic. So not only do you save money on gas prices getting there but also sitting in traffic and you have the air conditioning on.”

Others are still driving

Despite $5 prices, gasoline demand remains strong, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, told the Tribune-Review.

“Should the rise in price finally start to slow demand, we could see some breathing room, but for now, it seems like Americans are proving resilient to record highs,” he said.

In a tweet Thursday, De Haan said that for the first time since May, the national average price of gas saw a modest drop of less than one cent per gallon the day before.

“We should fall under $5 in the next week or so, stations (are) being a bit hesitant to lower prices too much yet with high volatility,” he tweeted.

RELATED: Gasoline demand remains strong despite record-high prices

Despite the high prices, many people said they aren’t changing their driving habits.

“I’m the type that if I want something, I’m just going to go and get it,” said Lori Wisniewski, 43, of Natrona Heights, after pulling into her local McDonald’s in a 2022 Toyota Corolla.

Wisniewski, who works for UPMC Primary Care, said it helps that the car gets good gas mileage, but even so, she said, she still would drive where she wants to go.

“I got my car to enjoy it, and that’s what I’m going to do,” she said. “I don’t want to pay that much, but what am I going to do?”

Inside McDonald’s, retired human resources worker Roseann Sekelsky, 74, of New Kensington said gas prices are impacting the family budget, but she and her husband still drive their 2002 PT Cruiser.

“We don’t stop and think, ‘Well, let’s not do this. It’ll take too much gas.’ We do the things we want to do,” Sekelsky said.

However, she said, the $5-per-gallon price tag might impact the couple’s summer vacation plans.

“My son lives in Baltimore. If I were thinking about taking a trip there, we might have to consider taking the train,” Sekelsky said.

Also at the McDonald’s, Jim Norris, 77, of Natrona Heights said the high gas prices haven’t caused him to reconsider his summer vacation plans whatsoever.

“I’ll probably drive to Niagara Falls this summer,” Norris said. “That’s about five hours from here. I drive slow, so I get good mileage, more or less.”

Besides, Norris said, he spends three months of the year in the Czech Republic, so he already is used to high gas prices.

“They sell gas by the liter and it’s about $1.75 a liter, which is about $5.50 a gallon,” he said.

In Tarentum, Deleice Shields, 62, was waiting at a bus stop on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Lock Street. She said she is part of a one-car family and is glad she takes a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus to her job as a production line worker for American Beverage Co. in Oakmont.

“It’s ridiculous,” Shields said. “With covid, you would think (gas prices) would be going down. It’s working out fine for me. I don’t drive, so I’m happy — and my pockets are happy, too.”

Tribune-Review Staff Writer Joe Napsha contributed to this story.