Allie Kay Spaulding/Looking Around

A lot of people these days are searching the landscape for ways to dodge the gasoline bullet. Here in Lompoc, taking COLT, riding a bike, or even walking to work are options. People who work in Goleta or Santa Barbara have investigated car-pooling, van-pooling, and even AMTRAK as alternatives to driving. And then there/s the Clean Air Express.

Sixteen years ago, on Oct. 29, 1990, the first Clean Air Express bus drove out of Lompoc to Santa Barbara. As its name implies, the service was initiated in an effort to reduce gasoline fumes in the environment. Lompoc residents who signed on were also interested in getting to work without wearing out their automobiles and, of course, in cutting monthly expenses.

A month/s pass cost ,70. Gasoline was about ,1 a gallon. Twenty round-trips would cost even an economy car about ,80 a month just for gas, not to mention the cost of maintenance when putting 2,000 miles a month on a car. You drove to the city parking lot at J and Cypress, parked free of charge, boarded the bus at 6 a.m., and were dropped off there at the end of the day at 6 p.m. It was a long day, but it was free of the stress of driving. It was a good deal.

Is it still a good deal? A month/s pass now costs ,135. Yes, that/s almost double the 1990 price. However, gas now costs about ,3.50 a gallon. That/s three and a half times the 1990 price. It/s still a 2,000-mile-a-month trip, it is still stressful to drive it, and parking is still free in Lompoc. Another attractive feature is that you can put a bike on the bus, enabling mobility at the end of the line.

The service is now available to people other than working commuters. Now single-trip tickets can be had for ,6 and a 10-ride pass with no expiration date costs ,45. Lompocans who want to shop, get to doctors/ appointments, or get to the Santa Barbara airport have six buses to choose from.

Here is a schedule of departures:

n Departing Lompoc to Goleta: 5:30 a.m., 6:00 a.m., 6:25 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.

n Departing Lompoc to Santa Barbara: 6:00 a.m. and 6:45 a.m.

n Returning from Goleta to Lompoc: 3:54 p.m., 4:15 p.m., 4:40 p.m. and 4:53 p.m.

n Returning from Santa Barbara to Lompoc: 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.

The ride each way takes roughly an hour and a quarter. Detailed printed schedules of the stops and pick-up points 7 and the one-ride tickets, 10-ride passes and monthly passes 7 can be had at Albertson/s at the video check-out desk.

The operation has steadily grown since those &#8220pioneerC days of 1990, and there have been changes. Initially, the program was managed by the Air Pollution Control District, which contracted the bus service first to the Santa Barbara Transportation Company, then Melni Bus. In 1999 the contract was let to Santa Barbara Air Bus. In 2001, the managing agency became Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG), with Santa Barbara Air Bus the continuing contractor.

From one bus in 1990, the service now has a fleet of 14, six making the round-trip from Lompoc and five from Santa Maria. It is a common sight now on the freeway in the early morning hours to see the cheery blue and white Clean Air Express buses, carrying 55 passengers each. Speaking of good deals: that computes to 600 fewer cars on the road.

What is life like on these buses so early in the morning?

Jon Mello, of Lompoc, was on that first bus that left town in1990. He still rides the first one out of town at 5:30 a.m. He remembers vividly that some of the first buses were not exactly state-of-the-art vehicles; in fact, if a bus broke down, a school bus was pressed into service. That situation highlights one of the dramatic changes. In 1997 Lompoc got a federal grant to buy four new buses, and in 2003, seven more that definitely are state-of-the-art.

Jon remembers, too, that at first, people would get on the bus and chat all the way to town, eager to get acquainted with each other. Later, the inclination to talk gave way to a desire to get an extra hour of sleep both ways. Gradually, it became de rigueur to get on the bus, settle back, and go to sleep, or at least be quiet so that others could.

This writer, who rode the bus for 10 years, remembers a new rider who got on at Buellton, a full 20 minutes into the trip. Most of the population was sound asleep.

The new lady announced her presence with a loud, cheery, &#8220Good morning, everyone!C and proceeded to the back of the bus where she entertained merrily, evoking enough guffaws to drive sleep from a sphinx.

Interestingly enough, her tenure was short.

The bus is a contained community that develops a certain fluid culture, changing with the personalities of the riders and drivers. Between naps through the years, long-lasting friendships have been forged, and at least one romance blossomed and matured into marriage. Riders and drivers bond, too, as was demonstrated when a driver got stopped for speeding and his riders passed the hat and paid the fine.

Is it still a good deal? Sure it is.

Allie Kay Spaulding can be reached at alliekay@verizon .net.