Some Northwest Indiana region commuters are choosing the train over autos

While rising gas prices don't faze some residents, others are adjusting their daily habits to minimize or compensate for the additional cost. 

Several people have changed their daily commute from driving to taking public transportation. Average gas prices in Northwest Indiana were $3.83 a gallon early Thursday morning, compared to $3.54 a month ago and $2.83 a year ago, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

Julius Johnson, of Gary, said that since gas prices hit about $4 a gallon, he works from his home office more often and said some of his neighbors now take the South Shore Line train to Chicago instead of driving to work.

Johnson, who used to go to the health club daily, now goes every other day to save money for groceries. He also said he sees friends across town less often because of high gas prices.

"It's getting to the point where if you don't have to go out, you don't go out," Johnson said.

South Side resident Daniel Braden said he splits his week between driving and taking the bus to work, sometimes putting in as little as $5 worth at the gas station. He said his neighbors, who own two cars, have switched to using the Chicago Transit Authority because they can't afford to spend money on gas at recent prices.

NICTD planning and marketing director John Parsons was reluctant to pin ridership changes on gas prices since its spring break season, but he said the South Shore line carried 16,059 passengers Wednesday, the highest April daily total since 2007.

Parsons also said the South Shore began to see an increase in rush hour ridership in March, up 3.6 percent from March 2010.

Oil has been trading about $108 per barrel since Friday, its highest level since September 2008. The Department of Energy, however, reported a 2 million barrel rise in U.S. oil inventories Wednesday, despite a fear of short supplies due to the unrest in Libya and the Middle East.

Consumer advocates have long argued that gas stations and oil companies quickly increase prices in response to international turmoil or natural disasters but are reluctant to decrease prices when headlines are positive and oil prices drop.

Christopher Steiner, a Chicago journalist who authored a best seller titled "$20 Per Gallon" in 2009, contends that high gas prices actually will make the world a simpler, safer and healthier place to live. But in the short term, consumers will feel the pain.

DePaul University professor Robert Cronberg drives in from the suburbs every day and said that even if his employer didn't pay for his gas, he still would pay the high price to be able to use his car for the sake of convenience.

"We've been at the $4.50 a gallon price before, and that didn't affect people's consumption," Cronberg said. "We're a car culture, and it's hard to break that habit."

Times Business Editor Matt Saltanovitz contributed to this report.