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Atlanta residents turn to MARTA as gas prices soar
Pain at the pump has changed how commuters get to work. Some are turning to public transit. Others, a bike.
ATLANTA - As gas prices continue to soar, some commuters in Atlanta have swapped out their car keys for a MARTA pass.
Elementary school teacher Jermaine Stubbs is one of them.
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"Usually I have no problem commuting to work with my car," Stubbs said, "But the gas prices are just insane right now."
Stubbs usually drives from his home to work in Sandy Springs, but now he said he takes the Red Line every day, then takes a rideshare service from the station to work.
"It just forced me to make a decision, where I have to save money," Stubbs said. "It [became] a lot more convenient and cheaper to use MARTA."
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Gas prices hit record highs, experts warn they could get even higher
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine takes its toll on gas prices. Georgia drivers are paying, on average, more than $4 in gas.
The average price of gas in the Atlanta metro was 50 cents higher Tuesday than it was a week earlier, according to the AAA.
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At Dean’s Midtown Shell on 14th St., the price for a regular gallon of gas was $4.79 Tuesday.
Drivers who were filling up said mass transit just isn’t an option for them.
"Not from my house, I can’t get it from Loganville to all the way where I work," said Marcelo Villatoro. "If I lived near Chamblee or Doraville, I would."
A spokesperson for MARTA told FOX 5 that they don’t have the ridership data to definitively connect a surge in riders to the surge in gas prices.
"This thing here [a Ford Explorer] about 60 bucks in two days, so it’s getting high. It’s getting high," said Neco Johnson. "It takes about 90 bucks to fill up."
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Johnson said his family business is D&N Auto Sales in Jonesboro is feeling the ripple effects.
"Starting to slow down man. Normally this time I’m doing 10, 20 cars a week now we’re down to five to seven," he said. "They’re starting to take MARTA and find other sources of transportation because it’s really getting ridiculous."
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