It makes sense that in times of a fuel crisis where we are being told to conserve fuel by carpooling or riding the bus, ridership would go up.  On top of conserving fuel, some drivers simply cannot afford to drive their cars because of high fuel prices, so they are also using mass transit to get from one place to another.

Even this, however, is causing problems.  According to a U.S. Government report regarding rising fuel costs and the impact on mass transit, the majority of mass transit systems are experiencing an overflow that they cannot keep up with.

Because people are opting to use mass transit – especially buses – the system is overcrowded and can’t handle the number of individuals it now needs to serve.  One would think that because there are more riders, there is more revenue and, as a result, there could be extra buses on heavily used routes, especially during peak hours.

The issue is that fuel prices have increased for everyone, not just individuals.  Mass transit systems are paying much more for fuel than they had projected in their budgets.  Many cities, such as Denver, have had to eliminate various routes or scale back from ongoing service to service only once or twice per day.

American Public Transit Association (APTA) William Millar has stated that the “mass transit system in the United States is woefully underfunded.”  That, plus the skyrocketing costs of fuel has caused some cities to cut their routes more than once this year as well as increasing fares, in an effort to continue service.
Millar says that Congress needs to provide financial assistance to help the mass transit systems provide services for those who need it, and he says that Congress needs to do this “now, before the recess that will go into next year.” 

With ridership on the rise – in most cases as the only means of getting to work and maintaining employment – it is essential that these services are continued to avoid adding to the financial woes that the country is already in.  More unemployment will only increase the problems, and if people can’t get to work because there is no public transportation their unemployment is in jeopardy.

Hopefully Congress will hear Millar’s plea and help mass transit now before their fall session ends and leaves transit systems and their riders stranded until next year.

The current fuel crisis is not new news.  It has been escalating for quite some time now.  In fact, since the late 1970’s and 1980’s, the world has had fuel issues that have needed to be addressed.  During the severe crisis and shortage of the 70’s and 80’s there was talk by researchers and lawmakers and citizens alike stating that it was essential to find alternative fuel and alternative ways to find fuel.

The crisis at that time died down, and so did the talk and the money for research.  It seems that the trauma of those years, the long lines, leaving your car at the gas station the night before your even or odd license-plate day, or showing up at 4 A.M. to wait your turn, were forgotten once there was a “fix” for the oil we depended upon.

The result is what we are seeing today.  When things were so difficult, the promises of a race to find the alternatives to fossil fuels were freely flowing.  Fast forward to now, and the alternatives are not here or they are not available.  Even Congress has been baffled as to what the answers are.

In May, in an effort to understand the crisis as much as possible, Congress invited truckers, consumer advocates and energy industry analysts to offer testimony regarding the effects of the fuel crisis.  The reason for this, according to Congress is that “oil impacts every aspect of our life.” 

Truckers, gas station owners and refiners have all been hurt severely by the current fuel situation.  The President of the National Association of Small Trucking Companies stated in his testimony before Congress that “high fuel costs affect everything – everything in this room came on a truck at least once.”  Testimony placed some of the blame on gas station owners, and squarely on oil companies, who are making more profits than ever.  Fifty years ago, oil company shareholders received 1% of the profits.  Twenty years ago, 10 to 15%.  Ten years ago, 15% to 20%.  And now, with the worst fuel crisis and highest prices in history, shareholders are receiving 50% of the profits and oil companies are paying little or no taxes.

Congress listened to the testimony of these individuals who know how hard the crisis has hit.  Lawmakers have spoken about the problems in the months since, and it is even an election issue.  It is time for us to see what will actually be done to fix the problem this time – once and for all.