Sean Martin and his fiance used to drive to work in their Jeep Grand Cherokee, enjoying a hassle-free commute from their Lincoln Park home to their jobs downtown.
But when the spike in gas prices pushed the cost of filling up the Jeep’s tank to $75, they decided to park the car and take public transportation.
“We’re two people trying to save for a wedding,” Martin, 26, said. “We can’t afford to spend all our money on gas.”
High gas prices have some Chicagoans putting the brakes on their gas-happy vehicles and opting for greener transport.
About a month and a half ago, Martin bought unlimited-ride cards on the CTA, and he and his fiance now fly rather than drive to visit her parents in Nashville because gas exceeds airfare, he said.
The CTA has seen higher ridership over the past few weeks, spokeswoman Ibis Antongiorgi said, though that’s largely due to construction on the Dan Ryan Expressway.
While higher gas prices also might have played a role, it’s difficult to quantify, she said. The CTA had 43.3 million rides this March compared to 38.7 million last year and 38.5 million in 2004.
The price at the pump has driven people to turn to other means of transportation including motor scooters, bicycles and car-sharing, those in the business say.
Philip McCaleb, CEO of Chicago-based Scooter Works USA, said throngs of people came to his stores in September, after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast and caused gas prices to surge.
“It was like ‘We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore,’ ” McCaleb said.
Sales of his scooters, which can get up to 125 miles per gallon, have doubled since 2002, he said.
At Johnny Sprocket’s Bicycles in Lakeview, manager Manuel Tenorio said he gets customers at least every other day who tell him they’ve given up their cars because they’re so expensive–largely because of gas costs–and want to pedal to work instead.
The number of customers who come in with that story has tripled this spring compared to last year, Tenorio said. The trend began last summer, he said, and continued through the winter.
Another trend is to share cars so you only drive when you really need to. Ned Furlan, 21, sold his Honda Civic three months ago and bought a membership to I-Go, a local car-sharing program that gives members access to 64 low-emission cars to use when they need them for things such as grocery shopping.
Furlan, a Loyola University student who lives in Buena Park and works on the South Side, was tired of paying $30 a week to fill up his tank, but he also was worried that public transportation would be inefficient.
He said I-Go, which charges members $75 to join and an additional $6 per hour plus 50 cents a mile (for the standard plan), has given him an ideal alternative.
“It’s much more efficient than owning a car in the city,” Furlan said.
It seems that others agree.
I-Go had a record 183 people join last month, compared to an average of 100 new members monthly, I-Go CEO Sharon Feigon said. She expects 200 new members in May.
Because of the increased demand, I-Go, which now has 2,400 members, plans to boost its fleet to 100 cars this year, Feigon said.
Converting to I-Go has taught Michael Greenberg, 44, that even his family of five can get by without a car.
Greenberg, who lives in Lincoln Park, sold his 1995 Saturn in March, and since then has been walking, taking the CTA and hopping into the scattered I-Go cars to do errands he used to use his car for.
While city congestion and the expense of owning a car–with city stickers, parking and tickets–were the main incentives to go car-free, “the higher price of oil was the final kick in the nuts,” Greenberg said. Many motorists, however, are absorbing the sticker shock.
Kim Hagarty, 23, bought a Ford Escape before moving to Chicago so she’d be prepared for the snow, and higher gas prices haven’t altered her use–or love–of her compact SUV.
She drives it everywhere, including from her home in North Center to the Loop to get in line for Conan O’Brien’s at the Chicago Theatre show last week.
“With everything that’s going on, it’s kind of shameful to say, ‘I’ve got an SUV,’ ” Hagarty said. “I know I should take public transportation, but I love my car, and I love to drive.”
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Rising prices go beyond the fuel pump
You can expect to feel the burden of higher oil prices even if you never touch a gas pump.
That sweater you buy at the department store or the lettuce you get at the corner grocery arrived on gas-using ships, trucks or planes, and at some point the products will reflect the higher freight costs, experts say.
“The companies are paying it, and sooner or later they’re going to pass it onto the consumer,” said Brooks Bentz, associate partner with Accenture Supply Chain Management.
Plus, many everyday products that contain petroleum are becoming more expensive to manufacture.
When that will happen is not clear, and for now competition seems to be keeping prices down. But David Lockwood, director of research for Chicago-based Mintel Reports, said he believes the price increases are about to start, even if they are just a few percentage points.
“Given that it will affect so many items, it will be noticeable,” Lockwood said.
A few products made with petroleum:
– Trash bags
– Balloons
– Shaving cream
– Nail polish
– Ink
– Candles
– Fertilizers
– Pesticides
– Plastics (telephones)
– Nylon
– Polyester
– Soaps
– Detergents
– Asphalt
– Surfboards
– Pipe coatings
– Waxes
– Lipstick
– Photographic film
– Paints
– Synthetic rubbers (tires)
— Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
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aelejalderuiz@tribune.com
