When his carpool partner retired about a month ago, Spaulding was left with a choice: pay $30 to $40 a week for the gas needed to drive to work or find another way. Spaulding bought a bus pass.
Now he drives five minutes to the bus stop and takes the Sooner Express to downtown each morning.
"It's worked out really well,” Spaulding said. "I don't have to get up any earlier than I normally do. I don't have to worry about traffic or gas prices.”
Spaulding said he gets off the bus at Main Street and Robinson and walks about five minutes to his office.
For Spaulding, an accountant for Oklahoma City government, the decision comes down to numbers.
"I get a senior citizen bus pass for $25 a month,” Spaulding said. "So I'm saving easily $80 or $90 a month. You can't turn down free money.”
Senior citizen passes are available to riders 60 and older.
Spaulding isn't the only one who can do the math. He said his bus used to have about half a dozen riders each day.
"As gas prices have gone up, now the bus is full almost every day,” Spaulding said.
Staff Writer Bryan Dean
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A Park and Ride Express bus originating somewhere in the Memorial Road and May area is needed. There is no designated parking for the bus stops in NW OKC. It's a very long hike and dangerous (no sidewalks) for anyone to walk to and from any bus stop on NW OKC's Route 5. Edmonds' Express buses have park and ride locations at churches, why not in OKC?
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