SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- As oil prices hit a record $105 a barrel and gas prices hover just under $4 a gallon, the California Public Interest Research Group released a report Thursday calculating oil savings, gas cost savings and other benefits from public transportatation across the country.
“The recent spike in gas prices is just one of many compelling reasons why convenient, fast, and reliable bus and rail service need to be expanded throughout our cities,” said Emily Rusch, Transportation Advocate with CALPIRG Education Fund. “Let’s face it: the era of cheap oil is over.”
Thanks to public transit, California saved more than 286 million gallons of oil, roughly equivalent to taking more than 800,000 cars off the road, said Rusch. BART is the third best system in the country in oil savings, behind only MTA in New York and Washington D.C.’s Metro, she said. It cut the Bay Area's oil use by 199 million gallons, she added.
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KCBS' Chris Filippi reports
