Evidence suggests commuters are abandoning transit habit
With gas prices as low as $2.30 in some places, drivers say they are getting behind the wheel again after opting for buses and trains earlier in the year.
On Thursday, Dan Hawes got into his car in Pasadena and braced himself for the drive to his job in Santa Monica.
Hoping to avoid the dreaded Santa Monica Freeway, he instead headed west on the 134, which was bad, to the 101, which was worse.
The 405, too, was hideous, leading to an unplanned and, in hindsight, unfortunate decision to span the mountains on Sepulveda Boulevard.
"This summer was fine, but then these last two months for some reason have just been horrific," said Hawes, 36, a copy writer, after finally arriving at work after a two-hour drive. "My friend at work is theorizing that everyone is worried about their jobs so they're actually going into work everyday."
For many Southern California commuters, the traffic relief associated with $4.75 gas is beginning to feel like a distant memory. Gas prices have been halved at many local outlets since their highs in June, and a gallon is now as low as $2.30 in places.
Mass transit ridership among some -- but not all -- local transit agencies has slipped since the summer. Although it's not known how many commuters have returned to driving, there is some anecdotal evidence that not everyone who tried mass transit stuck with it.
"Now that gas prices are down, it's better to drive -- I hate to say it," said Pauline Buchanan, who started taking mass transit from Hollywood to work in Koreatown last spring as gas prices climbed higher.
Buchanan wasn't too fond of the change. She said the buses were always crowded, the drivers were rude and the trip took longer. Last month, when gas prices began to drop, she started driving again.
Traffic almost always worsens each autumn as students return to school and people come back from summer vacations. In that respect, 2008 is following the familiar pattern, and officials with the California Department of Transportation say they simply don't yet know the full effect of gas prices on freeway driving.
"On any day in our system we can have 2, 3 or 5% variation in traffic volumes for reasons we can't really explain," said Marco Ruano, the chief of freeway operations for Caltrans District 7, which covers Los Angeles and Ventura counties. "It's very complex, and that's why we tend not to look at the short term."
Ruano said that there was evidence that people drove less when gas prices were spiking earlier in the year. But there wasn't enough data yet to say whether falling gas prices resulted in people driving more.
