Federal Grants Helping With Cost Of Rising Gas Prices

Thursday, May 17th 2007, 8:03 pm

By: News On 6

The price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas jumped ten cents from $3.09 to $3.19 Thursday. This pain at the pump is forcing many cities and towns to take a look at ways to save money on fuel. News On 6 anchor Craig Day reports a federal program is helping some towns in Green Country save taxpayer money.

"Right now this is showing about, I don't know 35 or 40 miles per gallon at 35 miles an hour, but as I let off the gas and I coast, it runs way up over 50," said City of Collinsville employee Bob Wolfram.

When it all averages out, the car, a Honda hybrid, gets about 45 miles per gallon. That's nearly three times better than the old vehicle replaced by this one. Wolfram says that makes a big difference.

"I think smaller towns especially, as a percent of budget, cost of fuel has really hurt us over the past two or three years, like it has hurt the individual consumer," he said.

Collinsville uses the car mostly during code enforcement and inspections. Half the money to buy the vehicle, about $10,000, came from a Clean Air grant administered through the Indian Nations Council of Governments. The other half came from the city. INCOG has used the grant to also get hybrid cars and natural gas vehicles for Tulsa, Tulsa County, Sand Springs and Sapulpa.

Wolfram predicts with the high price of gas, many cities and towns over time will consider converting their fleets to hybrid vehicles.

"These things make a lot more sense at $3.00 gasoline than they did at $1.50 a gallon,â€ said Wolfram. â€œAgain, I think cities will convert for fuel savings."

Is a hybrid right for you? Some hybrid's actually get better mileage during in-town driving rather than on the highway, which is opposite of most cars.

Collinsville says their hybrid is great for their situation. It does very well during stop-and-go traffic situations, but they also say they get great gas mileage for out of town trips. The best advice is to do a lot of research to see if it works for you.

Watch the video: Cities Feeling The Pain At The Pump Get Help From Federal Program