Monique Murguia used to drive her Jeep Cherokee to school and work, but Tuesday afternoon found her waiting patiently at Ninth and Massachusetts streets for a city bus.

“It takes $50 to fill it up,” Murguia, a Haskell Indian Nations University student and Lawrence Memorial Hospital volunteer, said of her SUV. “In town, that (tank of gas) goes pretty fast.”

City officials say rising gasoline prices may be a big part of the reason ridership on the T is skyrocketing — from 29,000 riders in February to more than 33,000 in March.

April’s ridership numbers aren’t quite as high as in March, officials say, but this month’s count of 1,192 riders a day still represents a 16 percent increase over the same period in 2004.

“I think gas prices are helping a little bit, being over $2 a gallon,” said Rachel Cornish, the transit system’s marketing director. “I definitely think it’s getting people’s attention.”

The increased ridership is good news for the T, but $2 gasoline is causing pain elsewhere in local government.

On Monday, for example, City Hall’s garage superintendent sent a memo to officials, asking them to ensure that employees don’t waste gasoline on trips around town.

“Conservation is our best policy,” Steve Stewart wrote. “Please remind your staff to limit idling time and manage their schedules to avoid multiple trips across town whenever possible.”

City Hall has 643 vehicles — including backhoes and garbage trucks, among others — in its fleet. Douglas County has 115 gas guzzlers. And Laidlaw Transportation runs 80 buses for the Lawrence school district.

Alban Abudalla, a driver for the city's transit system, fills up his bus before taking to the streets. Rising fuel prices have coincided with increased ridership on the city's bus system lately.

“It’s sickening, to tell you the truth,” Bob Osborn, branch manager for Laidlaw, said of gasoline costs. “Those buses don’t get the greatest mileage.”

He said the district’s contract required Laidlaw to eat the cost of any fuel price increases, unless the price rises above $1.50 a gallon. The district then pays anything above that amount; officials were unavailable to say how much that was costing taxpayers.

City and county officials said they couldn’t say how much extra money they were spending on gasoline. But they said those prices would be a factor in budgeting and taxing decisions as commissioners begin the 2006 budgeting process in coming weeks.

“I wouldn’t say at this point that one factor like this would result in a corresponding mill levy increase,” said Assistant City Manager Debbie Van Saun.

City Hall pays $2.3 million a year for MV Transportation to run city buses. Officials said Tuesday there’s no contract provision for the company to raise prices it charges City Hall because of fuel costs; the contract runs through 2008.

MV “takes that cost,” Cornish said, “so we aren’t tracking it.”

Murguia, meanwhile, said she missed the freedom that comes with driving her Jeep. Traveling on the bus schedule requires some planning.

“You can’t just jump in and go,” she said. “I’ve got to get up earlier, but other than that, it’s not that bad.”

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