Due to previously rising gas prices and the current state of the economy, some UT students have turned to alternative transportation such as public transportation, carpooling, bicycling and walking this semester.
Knoxville Area Transit provides students with a carpooling outlet. Belinda Woodiel-Brill, KAT marketing director, said the service has sold more than 1,150 semester bus passes so far this semester at the UC Central Ticket Office. KAT sold 805 passes in the 2008 Spring Semester.
When comparing August 2008 to August 2007, she said sales are up more than 11 percent this year. Year to date (comparing July and August 2007 with July and August 2008), sales are up 13 percent.
“Most people choose transit because it directly relates to their pocketbook, and I think overall that relates to the increase we have seen recently,” she said. “But also, they choose transit because they feel it’s the best they can do for environmental reasons ... especially on a university campus.”
Matthew Edmunds, service manager of Harper’s Bike Shop, said the shop has also seen an increase in business.
“Usually there’s a spike but not nearly as dramatic as what we saw this year, particularly in the repair section,” Edmunds said. “A lot of people brought in older bikes that they wanted repaired for commuting, saying they wanted to commute this year, very specificially because of the gas prices.”
He estimated that UT students make up 15 to 20 percent of the shop’s business, with students more interested in repair and new equipment.
“The higher cost of transportation, I think, has taken people who don’t normally consider it as a viable option and changed their minds a little bit,” he said.
Jeff Inman, a West Bicycles sales representative and technician, said people have mentioned high gas prices as reasons for renewed interest in bicycles as transportation, but UT students are not a sizable portion of customers because of the shop’s distance from campus.
Bike Zoo sales representative Jay Smelser and Scott Revell, sales representative at Cedar Bluff Cycles, said their businesses have most likely not seen an increase due to gas prices. They added, however, that sales have not decreased either.
Revell said, however, Knoxville is not suited for commuting due to lack of pathways. But he also said bikes have long been a mode of transportation for students, especially with the expense and scarcity of UT parking.
Ryan Miller, junior in aerospace engineering, said locality weighed in his options when looking for a part-time job during the school year. Miller had previously worked at Mellow Mushroom on the Strip during the 2007-2008 academic year, and he chose to return there for employment.
“It was relatively close by to campus, so I didn’t need a car to get there,” he said. “... My job opportunities were limited to the Strip for me getting there and working at a very regular rate.”
He said this is because of his selected mode of transportation: the bicycle.
“With car ownership here on campus (and) most students’ abilities to find a job, their radius of job opportunities are a lot bigger than mine,” he said. “I’m pretty much limited to a mile, what I can get to with a bike in less than 15 minutes.”
Miller said gas prices and transportation barriers affect him regularly, causing him to choose to carpool with friends or bike. He said he and a friend decided against going to a Tennessee away game at Georgia or Auburn because of how much gas would cost to get there.
Josh Farrar, freshman in sociology, said he bikes around campus regularly out of necessity.
“I don’t have a whole lot of money,” he said. “My family doesn’t have that luxury. Bikeriding, sometimes it’s a pain, but in the end result, it’s better.”
Like Miller, Farrar said if he were to look for a part-time job, he would also look for somewhere close to UT.
“There are a few more job opportunities on campus, so I’d probably take advantage of that, rather than driving out to the city every day to work,” he said.