City Monitoring Fuel Supply

Fleet Services - Sept. 12, 2008
Contact: Sandy Barfoot, 407-8585

The city is monitoring fuel supplies and is prepared to amend city services in the event that Hurricane Ike creates a fuel shortage, City Manager Lee Garrity said.

"Our consumption of fuel drops significantly over the weekend, so I have not implemented any changes in our operations," Garrity said. "However, we will assess the situation first thing Monday and are prepared to immediately take actions to conserve fuel should they be necessary." Department and division heads have already been put on standby, he added.

No matter what, Garrity said, there will be no changes to basic health and safety functions, including police, fire and garbage collection.

The Winston-Salem Transit Authority currently has no plans to reduce services. The authority has recently expanded services as ridership increased in response to rising gas prices. Should the hurricane create a sustained rise in gas prices, Garrity said, citizens should consider riding the bus to conserve fuel in their private vehicles.