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"We're going to hold out as long as we can" | Non-emergency transportation business adjusts to gas price hike

For Ride YourWay in Byron Center, seeing gas prices go up and up was not what they wanted to see.

BYRON CENTER, Mich. — For a second day in a row, gas prices are at a record $5 a gallon in West Michigan.

Many industries have been impacted by the rise in fuel costs from boating to delivery to non-emergency transportation.

Ride YourWay in Byron Center provides wheelchair accessible transportation. 

They use their five vans to drive 100 to 150 clients a week in West Michigan to medical appointments, family gatherings, open houses, weddings and other events.

"We transport anywhere from two to five thousand miles per week depending on how many clients we assist," said Tom Sikkema, the founder and CEO of Ride YourWay.

That comes out to about $100-$150 per vehicle per day.

For Sikkema, who started the company in 2018, seeing gas prices go up and up was not what he wanted to see.

"I think once we hit that $4 mark, that's when it set in that, it's not going in the direction I want it to go. I think a lot of people can say the same thing." 

Sikkema says thankfully they haven't had to increase their prices for the clients...yet.

"We have actually used and leveraged technology in order to optimize our routes and schedule more efficiently to decrease the overall number of miles that we're transporting throughout the week."

They've partnered with a tech company that has created transportation software. 

"We're going to hold out as long as we can, but with the cost of services increasing, not only with gas, especially gas, but across the board, it's going to be quite difficult for small business to sustain that."

Experts say relief isn't coming anytime soon. 

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, says because we're not getting oil from Russia anymore, it's impossible to quickly offset the amount of gas the country was getting from them.

"The best option is basically, if Russia were to exit Ukraine, and there'd be a regime change in Russia. That's really the only, you know, potential that I could see that brings meaningful and quick relief," De Haan says. "And that's obviously an extreme long shot."

Another scenario that could lower gas prices is a recession.

"If we see a very hard economic recession, suddenly demand plummets, and suddenly prices plummet," De Haan says. 

It's expected that gas prices will remain above $4 through the summer.

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