CAPITAL REGION — Capital Region residents who give up driving a car and take the bus could save $8,458 per year at current gas prices, according to a study released by the Capital District Transportation Authority.

The savings could be as high as $705 per month, the third highest savings rate among the top 20 metropolitan transit systems in the U.S., according to CDTA. Ranked ahead of the Capital Region was San Francisco, with $722 per month in savings, and Honolulu, where bus riders can save $725 per month by not owning a car.

Other Northeast regions had less but still significant savings, like New York City, ranked 11th, with $685 per month, just ahead of Boston, 12th with $683 per month, and Philadelphia, 19th with $665 per month.

“I was kind of surprised [how highly we ranked in savings] when we calculated it. I think part of it is because our monthly transit pass is a lot less than the larger metropolitan cities but our gas prices aren’t that much different,” CDTA Manager of Corporate Communications Margo Janack said.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the Capital Region on Friday was $4.05, according to Albanygasprices.com.

CDTA calculated the high savings for public transit users using the 2008 AAA average cost of driving formula, which uses the price of regular unleaded gasoline used by a car getting 23.5 miles per gallon that drives 15,000 miles per year. The formula also factors in costs of owning an automobile, like insurance, license and registration, depreciation and finance charges, and then subtracts the cost of $44 per month for a transit pass.

Schenectady resident George Scism, who said he takes the bus to work each day, was not sure how much money it saved him, although he was glad he hasn’t had to buy a car in five years.

“The bus pickup is right down the street from my house, and it drops me off right where I work,” he said. “I feel good that I don’t have to put all of that money into filling up my gas tank.”

Scism is not alone. CDTA reports a year-over-year ridership increase of 15 percent for its first fiscal quarter, which began in April and ended in June. That’s the highest level of ridership the authority has seen in 25 years, said CDTA Executive Director Ray Melleady.

“Clearly, the impacts of high gasoline prices are starting to change people’s travel choices,” Melleady said. “CDTA [is] on pace to exceed 15 million boardings this year . .  . catapulting us in a position of great value to the community, but also leaving us with the challenge of balancing service capacity with growing demand.”

Janack said although CDTA has seen increased revenues from new riders, the high cost of diesel fuel means CDTA needs more government funding to maintain its current services and enhance them.

“We’re kind of at a tipping point. People are starting to look at public transportation as a choice now because of the high gas prices . . . while at the same time we don’t have the funding we need to expand service and meet the service demands that we get currently,” she said.

According to CDTA’s projected fiscal year 2008 budget, only 16.5 percent of the costs of operating the transit system are derived from bus fares, while 45.4 percent comes from state funding, 11.4 percent comes from the federal government and 26.7 percent comes from the mortgage recording tax, interest income, rail station income and advertising.

Janack said CDTA is in the process of redesigning its Schenectady service, but planned improvements to neighborhood routes and trip frequency will require a 25 percent increase in service hours in Schenectady. She said CDTA’s redesign of Saratoga County’s bus routes has helped triple ridership there since implementation in July 2007.

Christopher O’Neill, a senior transportation planner for the Capital District Transportation Committee, said his organization helps funnel federal transportation money to government agencies in the Capital Region. He said CDTC firmly supports more federal funding for CDTA.

“It’s a national problem that [public] transit is underfunded, and at CDTC, we would advocate that mass transit is good for the environment, good for the community and has many positives worth investing in,” O’Neill said.

CDTA surge

Ridership is on the rise this year on Capital District Transportation Authority buses. The following list shows passenger totals in the first six months of 2007 and 2008, as well as the percentage increase:

January: 1,083,440 1,180,401 6 percent

February: 965,331 1,180,714 22 percent

March: 1,164,817 1,226,524 8 percent

April: 1,066,758 1,311,510 23 percent

May: 1,134,411 1,267,309 17 percent

June: 1,059,464 1,185,712 12 percent

Source: CDTA