Fighting the gas war City and schools find ways to cope

With gas prices already averaging about $3.40 for a gallon of regular and the threat of prices topping $4 per gallon this summer, local government officials are looking for ways to ease the pain at the pump.

Agoura Hills City Councilmembers John Edelston and Bill Koehler, who serve on the city's traffic and transportation committee, recently proposed a program that would benefit students who are planning to attend summer school.

Edelston said he and Koehler will recommend that the city council establish a free bus program for students attending summer school.

Edelston also wants the state to place a cap on gasoline excise and sales tax. He said that after gas prices reached a certain level, California could eliminate some of the state taxes, which are about 18 percent of the total cost.

About 60 percent of gasoline costs in California are state and federal taxes combined. The national average for gas taxes is 46 percent.

"This level of gas prices was never anticipated when the sales tax was put on gas," Edelston said.

Edelston has other ideas to offset rising fuel costs, from riding the bus, carpooling and walking, to convincing the state government to take a more proactive role in relief efforts.

Edelston also would like to see incentives to buy more fuel-efficient cars, such as the hybrid elec

ric/gas operated Toyota Prius. Taxes, he said, could be applied on a sliding scale based on fuel efficiency, with owners of gas guzzlers

ike Hummers paying significantly higher taxes.

Edelston said he's annoyed that d

three United S t a t e s automakers are continuing to build and promote large sports utility vehicles. He pointed out that Americans have gone through gas crises before and each time the automakers changed to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars.

On a separate front, the synchronization of traffic signals along Kanan Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard will lessen the stop-andgo traffic and decrease gas consumption, city officials said.

Schools caught in the middle

Although the price of gas affects teachers, school board members, staff and administrators alike, the increased revenue from gas taxes could lead to more funding for education, said Pat Schulz, a Las Virgenes Unified School Board member.

Board member Terilyn Finders said the battle against high gas prices must be fought on several fronts.

"As a trustee, I want to see the issues of environment/gas prices and health, walking and biking merge to one topic," she said.

Ride the bus instead

Wayne Bouffard, an Agoura Hills resident who works at Northrop Grumman in Woodland Hills, gave up his 1998 Ford-150 pickup truck in favor of the fuelefficient Camry late last year to save on gas. Bouffard said he can save even more money by riding the bus to and from work.

"It's relaxing," Bouffard said, but added that timing was crucial when riding the bus into work. If he catches the bus at 8 a.m. at Reyes Adobe and Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Bouffard said he arrives at work in just a half hour. Any later, and the traffic and extra bus stops add time to the trip.

Bouffard has an added incentive to ride the bus. His employer subsidizes the cost, paying $25 of the total $52 for a month's bus pass.