Les Geiger knows gas. \nAs manager of Bloomington Yellow Cab Co. Inc., the very substance fueling his business has become his biggest worry. \n"This is the highest I've ever seen in Bloomington," he said. "It's killing me."\nAs gas prices reach record levels -- nearly $2.40 for one gallon of regular unleaded -- everyone from IU students to local businesses is feeling the financial impact and scrambling for a means to pay the ever-growing cost of fuel.\nGeiger said Yellow Cab, which uses discounted gas for its taxi armada, has still seen a sizeable increase in gas spending. He said filling up the company's fleet of 19 vehicles is costing hundreds more dollars a week than usual.\n"Ideally, we'd pay around $1.50 per gallon, but prices are about $1.90 now," he said. "And I don't expect to see prices go below $1.80 anytime soon."\nGeiger said the company has recently bought some small, more fuel-efficient cars and sometimes doubles up rides in efforts to keep cab rates at reasonable levels.\n"We're doing anything we possibly can to not have to raise prices, but that won't last too long," he said. \nMike Clark, transportation director for the Monroe County Community School Corporation, said high diesel fuel prices have been an unexpected expense for the school system. Each of the MCCSC's 107 school buses is fueled by diesel gasoline.\n"We didn't budget for such an increase," he said. "There is currently no means for additional funding to offset the prices."\nClark said if prices continue to rise, the transportation department will meet with MCCSC Superintendent John A. Maloy and the school board to decide how to cover the cost, which could mean cutting funding from other school programs.\nThe school corporation buys a large amount of gas at once in a "fuel load" and then the buses can fill up at MCCSC owned pumps.\n"Prices fluctuate all the time, from one load to the next," Clark said. "Per gallon, it's nearing $2 for diesel, which is obviously much more than we'd like to pay."
DROWNING THE CAMPUS\nThe IU Motor Pool, which provides nearly all university vehicles, also purchases gas in bulk and has drivers fill up at the motor pool pumps. But Motor Pool manager Mike Hardesty said buying gas in bulk has still been a huge, unexpected expense for the University this year.\nHe said the Motor Pool paid an \naverage of $1.335 in 2003 and $1.521 in 2004 per gallon for regular fuel. In 2005, the average thus far has been $1.858. \n"It's one of our highest costs," Hardesty said. "Our budget wasn't made with the assumption that prices would be as high as they are."\nHardesty said the Motor Pool is responsible for more than 300 vehicles, which are either rented or leased to various departments around campus, including the biology department, the Indiana Memorial Union and the IU Physical Plant.\n"We have included a surcharge to offset the cost of gas, but eventually we may need to look at adjusting the budget," Hardesty said.\nBruce Jaffee, a business economics professor, said gas prices are about 50 percent higher now than they were a year ago, pushing them close to record highs. He contrasted this to the high prices of the early 1980s, when, if adjusted for inflation, prices were about $3 per gallon, and Americans were worried about a shortage of gas.\n"There's no question that gas is available, albeit at high prices," he said. "The negative side is that the volatility and uncertainty of prices has caused people to be apprehensive."\nHe likened today's high gas prices to a tax increase, because nearly everyone has to pay high prices at the pumps.\nJaffee said the vast majority of the financial burden will fall on consumers because businesses are able to adjust prices to compensate for the cost of gas.\n"We as consumers can't pass it off to anyone," he said. "The extra $5 we may spend a week is out of our own pocket."\nIU sophomore Kirsten Blodgett said gas prices have caused her to modify or cancel her travel plans from campus. \n"Two friends and I were planning on going to Georgia this weekend, but gas prices are ridiculous," she said. "Now, we're not able to go because it would cost so much money."\nBlodgett, who calls the high prices "obscene," said she has had to make several costly trips to Indianapolis already this semester.\n"When I drive it's because I have to," Blodgett said. "I couldn't drive less, so there's no way around paying for gas."\nDriving out of necessity seems to be true for many Hoosiers who aren't willing to reduce their driving because of increasing gas prices.
PAY AT THE PUMP\nGreg Seiter of the AAA Hoosier Motor Club said he's seen no indication that people are driving less because of the high gas rates.\n"People are still vacationing, and people are still buying large vehicles that burn more gas, like SUVs and trucks," he said.\nWes Parks, an employee of Newt Marathon Service Station, 401 W. 17th St., said he hasn't seen a decrease in gas guzzling customers either.\n"Business is the same as it has been," he said. "Everyone has to have gas."\nParks said he knows that as prices increase, a few people might simply refuse to pay. He said his gas station hasn't had an incident of people driving off without paying for about a month, and they always have plenty of employees around to "keep and eye on things."\n"People stealing gas is more likely now than usual," he said. "It's bound to happen."\nCaptain Joe Qualters of the Bloomington Police Department said local law enforcement has seen a slight increase in stolen gas lately.\n"From listening to the dispatches, it appears as if we've seen an increase in drive-offs," he said.\nQualters said driving away without paying for gas is considered theft, a Class-D felony, and the person could spend up to three years in prison if convicted.\nAlthough most Americans will not turn to such desperate actions to spare themselves high gas prices at the pump, customers will likely continue to bear increasing prices.\nSeiter, the AAA representative, said the primary factor that is creating high gas prices is crude oil, which is basically petroleum. \n"The price crude oil's being traded for is astronomically high right now," he said. "That's what's hurting us a lot." \nSeiter also said every March prices tend to rise because people begin to drive more, a reflection of longer daylight hours and road trips in warmer weather.\n"This time of year, an increase is not unexpected," he said. "Gas is in high demand. But because of increasing crude oil prices, we're at a much higher starting point this spring."\nCustomers growing weary of the increasing fuel prices will likely see little relief in the coming months. \nSeiter said it is nearly impossible to predict gas prices but he doesn't expect to see them relent anytime soon.\n"With summer coming, it's fairly safe to assume (gas prices) increase," he said, "even if not substantially."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Kelly Ginty at kginty@indiana.edu.
