Hybrids save cash, aid environment
CarpoolingIncentives persuade some to share a ridevehiclesTiny automobiles get hugely popular amid high gas prices

BY TAMI ALTHOFF

Published: November 9, 2008

NORMAN — While the majority of people still drive themselves to work each day, an increasing number of people are choosing to carpool.

While most of them share rides for economic reasons, their choices are having a positive impact on the environment — fewer cars on the road mean less ozone and better air quality.

Tracey Anderson of Moore, an employee at the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, said she began carpooling with two people about five months ago. In addition to saving money on fuel, carpooling provides her with people she can talk to during the commute to work.

She also gets more exercise — she often walks during her lunch hour on days she doesn’t drive.

Shelly Bacon of Hinton, about 50 miles west of Oklahoma City, also carpools to her job at the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. She began sharing rides with another person about two years ago, also to save money on fuel.

Making it easier

Anderson and Bacon are in the minority at their workplaces.

"I only know of two other people here who carpool,” Anderson said. "No steps have been taken to make it easier.”

Some employers are making it easier. The Oklahoma Tax Commission, for example, helps employees find potential carpoolers through a computer database.

As of this year, state employees can be reimbursed if they use public transportation.

Commuters in other parts of the country can use designated high-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV lanes). Oklahoma does not have any.

Dawn Sullivan, environmental programs division engineer with the state Transportation Department, said Oklahoma has not qualified for HOV lanes because of the state’s air quality.

"Since we have always been in attainment with environmental standards, it’s not something we’ve been considered for in the past,” Sullivan said.

That could change after a new federal rule for ground-level ozone goes into effect next March.

Clearing the air

The new standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency is 0.075 parts per million, down from the current 0.08 parts per million standard.

While the metropolitan area has never been in violation of the current standard, history shows it could end up in violation after the new rule goes into effect, officials for the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments said.

If ozone contaminants continue at unacceptable levels, it could mean a loss of federal highway and transit dollars, those officials said.

Bacon said that she believes more people would carpool if programs were in place to make it easier, such as ensuring they would have a way home in case of an emergency.

"I think most people’s biggest concern is not having their own transportation in an emergency,” Bacon said.

"Perhaps a free taxi ride could be available for verifiable emergencies.”

Higher gasoline prices and concerns about the environment have some people thinking small — very small.

Meg Salyer’s two-seat Smart Car is about half the length of some of the SUVs and pickup trucks with which she shares the road. The vehicle she used to drive, a Range Rover, is parked at home.

When the price of filling up the Range Rover hit $80, she started thinking about the little two-seat Smart Cars she had seen in Europe. "I was crazy about the design of them. They’re so cute.”

When gasoline got so expensive, "it really bothered me to spend that kind of money on a weekly basis on gas,” said Salyer, who owns a financial staffing service in downtown Oklahoma City.

Getting a Smart Car turned out to be a bit of a challenge, Salyer said. Hers was ordered from Dallas, although there is now a dealership in Tulsa that sells Smart Cars, which are a Mercedes-Benz product.

A recent fill-up of 7 gallons in the 8-gallon tank cost $20. At 38 mpg, the car has a range of about 304 miles per tank.

She’s discovered the 8.8-foot vehicle can easily share a pickup-length parking space with another car. She also learned — the hard way — that Oklahoma City ordinances prohibit two cars from sharing a single parking space. If it were legal, she could park the car perpendicular to the curb in a parallel parking space.

Sales personnel at several dealerships said they are seeing a lot of interest in small cars and hybrids, both because of gasoline costs and interest in making less impact on the environment.

Ashley Matheson, of Smart Center Tulsa, said the dealership is the only Smart Car dealership for Oklahoma and Arkansas. People who want one have to order it and wait a year to 18 months.

Jay Wilson, general sales manager of Fowler Toyota of Norman, said the dealership has a constant waiting list for people wanting to buy the hybrid Toyota Prius, which operates on gasoline and stored electric power generated by its braking system. The Prius gets about 50 miles per gallon, Wilson said.

The Prius debuted in 1998, but sales really took off when prices at the gasoline pump soared above $2, Wilson said.

"When gas is less than $2, people don’t really think about it,” he said.

Chad Jones, a salesman with Jackie Cooper Mini in Edmond, said the wait to buy a new Mini is about six to 10 weeks. The BMW product, which gets about 40 miles to the gallon, is attractive to a wide variety of ages, Jones said.

"A lot of older customers come in and trade their gas guzzlers. They’re getting something better on gas,” he said.

Your thoughts!