High gas prices? Take the bus instead

Newspapers around the U.S. are reporting a jump in ridership on public transit lines this spring. According to Grist.org, from January to March of this year, transit systems gained between 7 and 28 percent more passengers than last year.

Further reading found that cities around the country are experiencing a bus boom. Triangle Transit which serves the Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Durham areas in North Carolina, reports that ridership is up 20 percent from April 2007. In California's capitol, the Sacramento Regional Transit District, also saw a 20 percent leap in bus and light-rail use this spring compared to last year.

Boston, Los Angeles, Denver, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Philadelphia, New York City, and south Florida have all seen spikes in public transportation use recently. And everyone says high gas prices are the reason.

A New Jersey administrator explained that his monthly train pass costs $77 -- far less than the $400 in gas his 72-mile roundtrip commute required. In Richmond, Virginia, a worker estimated that he saves $10 per day by taking the bus to work instead of commuting by car.

Even in the pricey San Francisco Bay Area, it pays to jump the train. One mechanical engineer said he was spending $400 a month in gas for his 60-mile commute, but he switched to a $225 train pass. Now he leaves the stressful traffic behind and snoozes during the morning rush-hour.

Want to save money and live lighter on the planet, plus get some time to decompress, read a book, or even get a little work done on your laptop or BlackBerry? Look for bus routes and commuter trains in your city. Check out this public transportation map for links to most every system in the country.

About.com sums up the concrete benefits of public transit. An average family could save $6,200 annually by using public transit. Riding the bus is 79 times safer than riding in a car. American dependence on foreign oil would decrease 40 percent if just one in 10 citizens took the bus or train daily. And even at current ridership levels, public transit saves about 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide every year.

Another option that some folks find more flexible is carpooling. If you work at a midsized or larger company, look for coworkers who live nearby or on similar commute routes. Then share the ride and split gas costs. In many cities, you can use carpool lanes that will cut the commute time dramatically.

Even if you work at a small company, you can buddy up with workers at nearby employers. Perhaps there's a vanpool for your employment region.

The Rideshare Directory lists sites that help you set up a carpool. Try E-rideshare, Carpoolworld, or Vanpool, just to name a few. Some regions have specialized systems, like Rideshare 511 in the San Francisco Bay Area -- search the Web for your own town.

You don't have to pay $4 for a gallon of gas. Share the ride with others, and you'll save a bundle. And you'll cut your carbon footprint too.