Fed up with soaring gas prices, Betsy Townes bought a pink motor scooter.

Top speed: 40 mph.

The last time Townes, 59, put gas in her Jeep Cherokee, it cost $50. "It didn't fill it up," she said. "I thought, I can't do this."

The price of regular gasoline hit $3.55 a gallon yesterday in the Richmond area -- up 1 cent from the previous record, set Friday. No one knows how high the prices will go.

Many people are saying enough is enough, and they are changing the way they live.

Townes, who lives in the Carytown area, works, shops and spends most of her time in the city.

Since buying the scooter three weeks ago, Townes said, she has put nearly 200 miles on it -- on 2 gallons of gas.

"Now that I have mine, I see them everywhere," the Richmond resident said.

Townes' inspiration came from her co-worker, Jackie Mancini, who also has a scooter.

"I just sold my car today," Mancini said Friday.

Chelsea Lahmers said gas prices are causing a huge increase in scooter sales at her store, Scoot Richmond.

She said she has sold as many scooters so far this year -- an estimated 50 -- as she did all of last year.

Scooters get between 70 and 140 miles to the gallon, Lahmers said, and all kinds of people are buying them -- young couples on a budget, older people trying to save money and parents who want a cost-effective alternative to a new car for their teens.

"A 16or 17-year-old can put $5 in the tank instead of $50 in the tank," Lahmers said.

High gas prices hurt U.S. car and truck sales during the first three months of this year, said George Hoffer, a Virginia Commonwealth University economist. Car sales were down 3.1 percent, and truck sales were down 12.1 percent. Sales dropped off more sharply toward the end of the period as gas prices climbed, Hoffer said.

The only vehicle category to show an increase in sales was small cars -- those the size of a Toyota Corolla or smaller -- which were up 3.4 percent, he said.

What makes the price of gasoline so unsettling to people, Hoffer said, is you see it numerous times a day.

"Gas prices have more psychological impact" than other prices.

. . .

Barbara Hodges lives in Cumberland County and works for U.S. Rural Development in Richmond, a commute of about 62 miles one way.

At $3.39 per gallon, it cost Hodges $58.50 to fill the tank of her Nissan Altima last Sunday. It was the first time she broke the $50 barrier.

"It was shocking," said the loan underwriter.

Hodges carpools and has driven the 60to 90-minute commute every other day for several years.

Hodges, 46, said she makes a good salary, and getting another job closer to home is not an option.

"With the job market in Farmville, I couldn't get what I make here."

She and her husband, Eddie Hodges, 48, who is retired on disability, just purchased their rancher after living in a trailer Eddie owned in Prince Edward County.

Hodges had wanted to make home improvements. But, she said, "it's hard to save money to do any upgrades."

Also, they used to go to Alcoa, Tenn., two or three times a year to visit her brother. Now it's just once a year.

Hodges likes concerts, but the couple haven't been to any this year.

"You just can't do as many activities as you used to," Hodges said. "We do more staying at home watching videos."

. . .

Higher prices are not enough to deter volunteers for Meals on Wheels -- even though they use their own cars and pay for their fuel.

It wouldn't matter what the gas price was, said Don Hills, a volunteer for the past four years who delivers meals each Thursday.

"It's still worthwhile to do this job," said Hills, who lives in Henrico County. "People need to eat, and we're the ones to bring them the food."

Alice Spilman, a volunteer for 30 years, echoed that sentiment. But she said rising gas prices were part of the reason she decided to cut back on delivering meals from twice to once a month.

"Don't ask me that," she laughed when asked for an estimate on how much she spends on gas for her volunteer work.

She estimated that she drives about 30 miles in her Toyota Camry, including her route and the round trip from her home in the far West End to the Meals on Wheels headquarters on Willow Lawn Drive in Henrico.

There she meets Anne Cronly and they deliver meals together, as they have for 15 years.

"It gives us a good feeling to know we're helping people," Spilman said.

"For some people, it's their only contact," Cronly added.

. . .

Joey Nuckols, 24, began selling real estate for Hometown Realty in Richmond five months ago and has since seen the price of gasoline rise roughly 60 cents a gallon.

Nuckols does not get a mileage reimbursement when he takes clients to look at homes in his Isuzu Rodeo. The sport utility vehicle, he guesses, gets something under 20 miles per gallon.

"There's nothing I can really do about [high gas prices]," he said. "I just can't stop showing people property because gas is expensive."

He does try to walk around more if he's showing property in the same neighborhood. And if he's out during leisure time with friends, they carpool more these days.

. . .

Gas prices are hurting small businesses such as Marlon Williams' medical transportation service at Amelia Courthouse.

E&M Transportation Inc. drives Medicaid and Medicare patients to doctors' offices and other medical appointments across much of south-central Virginia. Williams said he has seen the monthly fuel bill for his 23-vehicle fleet climb from $12,000 to $20,000 a month during the past five years.

Williams works with an Atlanta-based vendor that has a contract with Virginia to provide the transportation services. His company's agreement with the vendor does not provide for additional compensation when fuel costs rise, he said.

"We do everything we can to cut costs," he said. That ranges from cutting back on paper for his fax machine to increasing the number of twoand three-passenger trips his vehicles make.

His drivers are not getting raises, Williams said. Rather, he's struggling to keep all his vehicles on the road to make sure the drivers have jobs.

. . .

In Virginia Beach, rising gas prices have imposed restrictions on Tracey Williams, a 30-year-old single mother, and her 7-year-old son, Jacob.

Keeping gas in the tank of her 1998 Saturn eats up the family's spending money, leaving less for activities with her son, said Williams, who works part time for the Virginia Beach school system.

"We're stuck at home a lot more than we used to be."

Last week, for example, Williams said, she spent so much on gas driving Jacob to and from school and baseball practice that there was not enough for a weekend movie.

"Jacob doesn't really understand," Williams said. "He'll see $20 in my wallet and say, 'We've got money.' I told him that's just enough money for next week's gas -- if we're lucky."

Gas costs have forced Williams to cut back on fast-food dinners. And high gas prices also confront her at the grocery store, where the cost of milk and other products has risen with transportation costs.

Williams buys gas near her workplace, where it's a few cents cheaper. When she needs only a few groceries, she walks to the store. If she goes out with friends, "I try my best not to be the driver."

But if gas prices go much higher, she said, "I really have no idea what I'm going to do."
Contact Holly Prestidge at (804) 649-6945 or hprestidge@timesdispatch.com.

Contact Rex Springston at (804) 649-6453 or rspringston@timesdispatch.com.

Staff writers Jamie C. Ruff, Bill Geroux, Karin Kapsidelis and Greg Edwards contributed to this report.