Photos by Marcus Yam | The Roanoke Times

A rider pays for fare on the Smart Way commuter bus at Roanoke's airport bus stop Wednesday.

City employee Vanessa Bohr reflects on a joke made Wednesday by other riders on the Smart Way bus that runs from Roanoke to Blacksburg. Drivers who began car pooling and riding public transportation have not returned to their old habits, even with lower gas prices.

Users of alternative transportation continue riding, car pooling and cutting energy corners in spite of some welcome relief from the high gasoline prices that drew people out of their cars in the first place.

"Don't want to quit now," said Vicki Akers of Salem, who car pools with two co-workers to their jobs at New River Valley Medical Center outside Radford. "You become friends."

For others, a smart commute has become an economic necessity.

"I commute each day from Bedford to Blacksburg," said Vanessa Bagby, who works at TechLab, "and without the car pool I would probably have to quit my job and find something local, in the Roanoke area."

Jeremy Holmes, who directs the Ride Solutions alternative transportation program based in Roanoke, said bus ridership, car pooling and -- weather permitting -- bicycling to and from work, continue at rates virtually unchecked by sub-$2 gasoline prices.

Ridership on the valley-to-valley bus service called Smart Way, which was launched in 2004, is up 45 percent for the July through October period, compared with the same time last year.

Students and faculty at Virginia Tech appear to be flocking to the blue buses as shown by high passenger growth at the Squires Student Center stop at Virginia Tech, agency statistics show.

Some passengers report that the buses and park-and-ride lots are not quite as crowded as they were when gas peaked. But this and other transportation alternatives are holding their own.

New car pool registrations are arriving at a rate of about 35 a month, compared with about nine per month a year ago, Holmes said. The database of registrants has doubled since March and nearly tripled since this date last year, he said.

For the record, 61 days ago the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas in the Roanoke Valley was $4.14. Fuel prices had been going up for more than a year. But then, in late September, prices reversed course on dashed expectations for rising global demand that followed the economic crisis. Thursday's average of $1.97 was less than the local peak price.

And more declines appear possible. Gas on Thursday was in the mid-$1.70s in the Shenandoah Valley.

"Gas prices were the trigger that made people change their behavior," Holmes said. "But once they started the new mode they found there were nonfinancial benefits that have kept them on the bus or in the car pool even after gas dropped back to $2."

Sally DiRico commutes from Christiansburg to her job as an engineering technician at a Salem office of the Virginia Department of Transportation.

She drives to the Falling Branch park-and-ride lot at Exit 118 in Christiansburg; boards the Smart Way with a ticket provided at VDOT's expense; rides to the park-and-ride lot at Exit 140; and drives a short distance to work in a car she keeps at the park-and-ride for that purpose.

Yes, she said, gas is well below the $3 mark that caused her to take public transit in the first place back in 2006.

But riding is still worth it because she avoids racking up mileage and related repair costs on her primary vehicle and arrives without the added stress she experiences while driving, she said.

"Anything I can do help pay the bills, I have to do," said DiRico, adding that she is a single mother with one child at home.

So why not expand the bus system?

The question occurred to Nancy Gentry of Franklin County, who said a Smart Way bus running up and down U.S 220 South to Rocky Mount and even to Martinsville would be full -- based on heavy use of the Rocky Mount park-and-ride program.

"The benefits would not only be that individuals will save gas; it would also help alleviate [U.S.] 220 traffic woes and benefit the environment as well," she said.

She would gladly ride the bus rather than drive. Her car pool broke up when her co-riders dropped because of work schedule changes.

With enthusiasm for group travel strong, area government officials are making targeted investments to add mass to area mass transit.

Roanoke launched a downtown-to-South Roanoke trolley this week. Blacksburg Transit is considering adding routes late next year.

A fourth Smart Way bus running between the Roanoke and New River valleys could be added in January, said Dave Morgan, who runs the Valley Metro bus system.

Morgan was asked if he has seen any letup in interest in public transit -- either the Smart Way system or Valley Metro urban buses -- since gas prices began a hasty retreat.

"The answer is a resounding no," he said.