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The price of unleaded regular hit $3.51 a gallon in the Triad on Wednesday, leaving drivers angry, stunned and frustrated over the prolonged rise in fuel costs and worried about when the increases might end.

Have the high prices changed your lifestyle? Join the discussion at the Debatables blog.

Most say they're driving less and cutting back on things such as eating out, shopping and going to movies.

Others say they've chosen to travel by bus or train, buy scooters and search for more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Some, such as 58-year-old Betty Patterson, a retiree who lives off Summit Avenue in Greensboro, have parked their cars.

"That's why I'm walking today and taking the bus," Patterson said as she waited at The Depot on Washington Street. "It's ridiculous. People need to make signs and boycott (gas stations)."

Even so. Patterson knows she can't walk and ride the bus everywhere she needs to go.

"You put $20 of gas in your car and you can't go nowhere," said Patterson, who lives on a fixed income. "You have to do your necessities and let everything else go."

As of Wednesday, it would cost Patterson about $52 to fill her Suzuki Forenza's gas tank.

The cost will continue to rise at least through the end of May, energy experts predicted.

Doug MacIntyre, an analyst with the Energy Information Administration in Washington, said prices in the Triad should rise another 20 cents a gallon through Memorial Day and then level off.

The good news is that prices probably won't reach $4 a gallon around here, as they already have in parts of California.

"A month ago, I would have said you definitely won't see $4 gas," MacIntyre said. "Now, I am saying you most likely won't see it."

He said prices aren't likely to dip below $3.50 this summer.

The run-up in oil prices over the past several months has largely been caused by a weaker dollar, which makes commodities such as oil attractive investments for foreign investors.

That sort of speculating has led to a shattering of a once unthinkable price of $100 for a barrel of oil; Wednesday, the price per barrel finished about $118.

As prices have risen — they're up nearly 70 cents in the Triad over the past year — it appears they've finally begun to affect driving habits.
For example:

* Officials at the Greensboro Transit Authority say the number of people riding city buses has increased 8 percent this month over last. The number of students using the Higher Education Area Transit service has jumped 20 percent in April.

* A spokesman for Amtrak said the six trains a day serving Greensboro have experienced an annual increase in passengers ranging from 17 percent to 41 percent.

* The co-owner of Scooternerds.com, a Greensboro scooter and motorcycle store, says his sales have increased 20-30 percent over the same time last year.

"It has really skyrocketed this week," John Hill said of his sales. "We've had a lot of 50- and 60-year-old females coming in and saying their neighbor had one and they wanted to see what they were missing out on."

* People are shopping for cars that sip gas.

Toyota's best selling cars are hybrids, said Neil Kelly, new car sales manager for Rice Toyota on Battleground in Greensboro. And the Prius is leading the pack.

"We've always sold a lot of Priuses but demand is creeping up," he said of the gas/electric car that gets 48 miles per gallon in the city and 45 mpg in highway use.

As for Toyota's big truck, the Tundra, "They're not leaving the lot as fast as they were," Kelly said.

Eight months ago, Troy Ambler, who commutes to his job at Lincoln National from Pittsboro, ditched his gas-guzzling Jeep for a 1995 Corolla to make the 40-mile trip.

"My Jeep is sitting in the garage," he said.

"I just use it for recreation, pulling boats, off-roading or when I need to pull anything from Lowe's."

About six months ago, he started meeting a co-worker in Burlington to carpool to work. It helps save the environment, he said, and now a lot of money.

"It's not a huge, huge difference, but every little bit counts," he said.

And they're changing the way they drive.

David Morrissey, of Jamestown, who also works at Lincoln National, said he consolidates errands and keeps his vacations closer to home.

"It's definitely narrowed down our choices and it's something you never used to think about," he said.

With five children, three in college, gasoline is a big topic in his family.
"They got the Jeep kind of cars," he said, "but they've all cut down to smaller cars."

He drives a Volkswagen Passat now, but gas prices are changing his views.

"When choosing the next car," he said, "hybrids are definitely at the top of the list."

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com.

Contact Richard M. Barron at 373-7371 or richard.barron@news-record.com