As gas prices spike, Airmen pursue fuel-saving alternatives

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Brian S. Orban
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho --  After gas prices in the Mountain Home community jumped nearly a dollar per gallon in less than four months, many Airmen stationed here continue switching to alternative fuel-saving transportation to help ease their "pain at the pump."

Gas prices on base and in the Mountain Home community continued their upward spiral in recent months, breaking the $4 per gallon mark June 18. According to Debbie Rhodes, base shoppette manager, prices on base rose above $2 per gallon March 19, 2005, and continued climbing and falling for nearly two years before reaching $2.79 in October 2007 then exceeding $3 per gallon on March 4, 2008.

"I'm spending more on gas than my actual car payment each month," said Senior Airman Teresa Deschene, 366th Mission Support Group. With a commute from Mountain Home to the base averaging 12 miles and 60 miles from the base to Boise, people like Airman Deschene watched their car's gas bill climb to roughly $400 per month.

The carpooling option

In some instances, people here already adopted alternative means to get to work well before gas prices began their upward spiral. Tech. Sgt. William McLaughlin from the 366th Contracting Squadron is one of dozens of Gunfighters living in Boise that use the Ada County Highway District's Commuteride program to carpool to and from the base. For 33 years, this carpool alternative has used a combination of rideshare services for commuters and employers in the Treasure Valley area and Mountain Home.

"I decided to join the Commuteride program when I moved to Boise in August 2007 ... to save on vehicle wear and tear and gas costs," Sergeant McLaughlin said. "Before joining the program, I drove my own vehicle, and one round trip from my house was 70 miles. That's 350 miles per week or 18,200 miles per year just in commuting. If I were to drive my own vehicle to work every day during the week for a month, it would cost me ... $4,320 a year."

Sergeant McLaughlin's carpool van includes 13 people working at various places around the base. ACHD assigned these people to the van according to where they meet up in Boise each day. It also matches up people with similar work schedules.

"I only pay $15 dollars a month to ACHD for commuting," the sergeant added. "Other than the gas savings, it's a great way to network with other individuals around the base, not to mention that you can sit back and sleep to and from the base."

Meanwhile, people like Capt. Andrea Murray, 366th MSG executive officer, adopted their own personal carpool plan. A Boise resident, she joined the ACHD program in October 2007 but had to change plans after she became a group executive officer.

"I was working longer hours than the van allowed," she said. For several weeks, she drove to and from Boise in her own car, racking up 120 miles a day and spending $50 in gas per week.

She started carpooling from Boise with two other base officers in mid June. Each morning, they meet up at a designated location in town and take one vehicle to base.

"We don't work in the same building, but for the money we save in gas, we don't mind picking each other up," Captain Murray said. "This alternative affords me more flexible hours during the week. If I wasn't carpooling ... I'd be driving myself, and spending a ton more money."

The cycle and scooter alternative

While many Gunfighters prefer traditional vehicles to get to work, others made the switch to two-wheeled forms of transportation. For those living in Mountain Home or on base, motorcycles top this list. In fact, demand for motorcycle safety training here continues to exceed available class space with this year's numbers expected to double last year's attendance figures, said Staff Sgt. Matthew Perraut with the 366th Fighter Wing Safety Office. The classes are mandatory for anyone wanting to ride a motorcycle on base.

In addition to motorcycles, significant numbers of Airmen made the switch to scooters versus cars or trucks at bases across the Air Force. This new demand prompted the Air Force Safety Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., to create a separate scooter rider safety course similar to ones offered for motorcycle riders. Bases need a separate class for those riding scooters since their riding and handling characteristics differ from standard motorcycles, Sergeant Perraut said.

Staff Sgt. David Carmichael with the 366th Component Maintenance Squadron is among the base's new scooter riders. As gas prices prepared to crack the $4 per gallon mark, the sergeant bought one to get around base while leaving his half-ton pickup truck parked at his on-base home. His initial $700 investment allowed the sergeant to recoup money he was pouring into his truck's gas tank and, in terms of overall savings, could pay itself off by the end of summer.

"As far as saving gas, I am getting about 65 [miles per gallon] on my scooter," Sergeant Carmichael said. "I've put about 500 miles on it on-base riding and have saved about $130."

The switch from truck to scooter also allows him to keep down the mileage on his less fuel efficient vehicle, he added.

Captain Murray and her husband also decided to pursue the scooter idea in June specifically to commute around Boise. Beforehand, the captain's husband spent $80 a week for gas to get him to work and to attend classes at Boise State University.

"The scooter holds 2.5 gallons of gas, and we don't even have to fill up once a week," she said. "He takes the scooter to and from work and BSU whenever weather permits. We get upwards of 300 miles on those 2.5 gallons -- a big difference -- and it saves a lot of money. Instead of $80 a week to fill up his truck, we spend, at most, $20 every two weeks, saving an average of $280 a month. The scooter will pay for itself in seven months with the price of fuel the way it is."

Conscious decisions

While some Airmen here made the decision to find more fuel-efficient ways to get to and from work, it takes a conscious effort to make this switch and make it work, said Chief Master Sgt. Terral Ristow, president of the base's motorcycle club. Avoiding the temptation to drive a car to work from the dorms or base housing is "a hard habit to break."

"People often don't think about walking or bringing a bike to work," said Chief Ristow. "Folks in base housing still prefer taking their cars since it's convenient."

Distances from most work centers to the farthest locations in base housing average between two to three miles. For example, it's an approximately two-mile trip from Fuller Court in the Desert Skies housing area behind the base clinic to the 391st Fighter Squadron maintenance complex on the flightline. Anyone needing to ride from the same neighborhood to Hangar 201 on the base's southwest corner via Aardvark Avenue would extend that ride by another three quarters of a mile.

However, the time needed to ride a bicycle versus a car anywhere on base only averages about one or two minutes, according to Tech. Sgt. Stephen Lusk from the 366th Communications Squadron, who switched to riding his mountain bike to work from base housing June 1.

"It used to take me seven to eight minutes to drive to work from base housing," Sergeant Lusk said. "With my bicycle, it takes me eight to 10 minutes."

In addition to helping him remain physically fit, making the switch to a bicycle helped Sergeant Lusk save on his gas bill.

"[Before], I had to refuel my car with 15 gallons every 10 duty days," Sergeant Lusk said. "But now, I have only had to fuel my car once in 45 days, and I can still drive to town once or twice a week."

The sergeant's only expense so far was treating his bike's tires with a puncture-resistant coating to keep goat-head thorns from puncturing them.