Students Move Away From the Pump

When Ariel Hudnall decided to attend UC Berkeley, she planned to drive to class every day from her home in Novato, a city about 30 miles from campus.

However, after calculating the cost of gas and the time she would spend in transit, Hudnall, a UC Berkeley junior transfer student, opted to look for an apartment in Berkeley to live in when she begins school this fall.

Gas prices have risen about $1.10 nationally from the level they were at a year ago, and experts say consumers should not expect them to drop any time soon.

Severin Borenstein, the director of the UC Energy Institute and a professor at the Haas School of Business, said that oil prices, and in turn gas prices, are likely to remain at similar levels for some time.

"People need to adjust to the fact that gasoline is going to cost more," he said.

Hudnall estimated that if she commuted each day, she would have to spend $140 per week on gas.

"For that amount, I might as well be paying rent," she said.

In the wake of these increases, it seems Hudnall is not alone in her decision to avoid driving to campus.

Student parking permit sales for spring 2008 were down 4.5 percent compared to the same time last year, and carpool permit sales were down 13.7 percent.

Alesia Woods, customer service manager at the campus's office of parking and transportation, said that although there has been a decrease in permit sales, it would be difficult to draw a definite link to gas prices at this time.

"It's hard to determine whether or not (gas prices) have had an impact," Woods said.

Other students, such as senior Charmaine Chui, have not been as heavily impacted by gas prices in their commutes.

Chui takes a bus and BART to campus each day, and has for the past three years.

Her commute currently costs $4.05 each direction, which she said she feels is far preferable to renting local housing.

Woods said students are increasingly using buses, bicycles and other means of transportation to get to class.

"I think that students are just finding alternate ways of transportation," she said.

Other options are also emerging for students who do not wish to commute to campus.

The number of online courses offered by UC Berkeley Summer Sessions has quadrupled since last year, and with the increased selection, many more students are opting to enroll in them.

Richard Russo, director of summer sessions, said he did not feel gas prices were the driving force behind the higher online enrollments, but that selection and freedom provided to online students had more to do with it.

"I think students take online courses for convenience" he said.

Russo also said gas prices are affecting more than just basic transportation costs.

"It's driving up the cost of everything," he said.

However students are choosing to deal with gas prices, whether it be limiting driving time, taking public transit, cutting back in other areas or avoiding commutes entirely, they should acknowledge that these changes may not be temporary.

Borenstein said people need to begin making long-term adjustments to accommodate rising gas prices, and must acknowledge that politicians can do very little to remedy the situation.

"I think that people have to understand that oil prices are very much beyond the control of the U.S.," he said.

Tags: GAS