A remedy? More efficient buses for Duke Transit and Duke Police. Electric vehicles for groundskeepers and police officers. And preventive maintenance programs for Duke Postal and other departments to ensure vehicles get the best mileage for the buck.

Duke staff and faculty are also feeling the crunch and many are seeking other ways to get to work. Duke Parking & Transportation is offering an enhanced carpool program with incentives such as free parking.

For example, Duke Transit’s fleet of 30 full-size buses, six mini buses and eight vans uses nearly 200,000 gallons of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel each year. During the past five years, the price Duke pays for diesel has more than doubled – from an average $1.79 a gallon in Fiscal Year 2003-04 to the current rate of more than $4.50 a gallon.

Duke Transit is battling its bulging fuel budget by adding more efficient buses and making sure buses aren’t left idling when parked.

During the past academic year, Duke Transit added three Mercedes Sprinter mini buses, which get 12 to 14 miles per gallon, to replace older mini buses that got five to seven miles per gallon. And full-size buses that get better mileage are also on the way. Two fuel-efficient buses will be added this fall to the Robertson Scholars route, which provides free rides from Duke’s West Campus to UNC-Chapel Hill for students, faculty and staff.

More efficient vehicles are also saving fuel at Duke Police. The department has switched its patrol cars to sedans that get 25 miles per gallon instead of the SUVs that got 15. Officers are also routinely checking tire pressure and oil for better fuel efficiency.

“We’ve started a preventive maintenance program because we want to make sure Duke Police vehicles are getting the best mileage possible,” said Carol Campbell, Duke Police’s logistics coordinator.

The department has also added several electric security vehicles for patrols. The three-wheeled vehicles, known as T3s, will become a common sight on campus this fall.

“It’s electric!” is also a popular reply from Duke’s Grounds and Sanitation staff members, who regularly receive questions about the department’s four electric utility carts. The carts, added in recent years to cope with increasing fuel coasts, are used on campus and during special events such as football games.

“We’d love to have even more electric vehicles for the groundskeepers,” said Phil Martin, Duke’s assistant supervisor of grounds maintenance. “With gas prices going up so high, that would help us save even more money.”

For some Duke departments, though, avoiding higher fuel prices is almost impossible.

Duke Postal, for instance, is ensuring delivery vehicles are maintained properly to improve mileage and not left idling unnecessarily. But the mail must go through, and the department has limited ability to cut fuel costs.

“We still have to keep up with our routes and schedules, so there’s only so much we can do,” said Mike Trogdon, director of Duke’s postal operations. “We’d really like to have some type of hybrid vehicles, but the catch is we would need a hybrid cargo van. If gas keeps going up, we’ll all be looking for solutions like that.”