Drivers in Seattle are heaving a huge sigh of relief.

After speculation last year that gas would reach five dollars per gallon, it has since gone down to less than two dollars, reaching prices that have been unheard of since 2003. Unfortunately, the drop doesn’t seem to be as much of a godsend to those involved in providing transportation at the UW.

Josh Kavanagh, director of UW Transportation Services, said that although gas prices are lower than they were last year, they are still at levels that used to be normal not too long ago.

“They are not enough to offset budget cuts,” he added.

The biggest problem for Transportation Services is the increase of “transit costs,” which is the money paid to King County Metro for the U-Pass. Lower gas prices do not lower the transit costs, Kavanagh explained, adding that a decline in sales tax revenue is one of the biggest things that drives imbalances in the transit budget.

Because the economy is suffering, people don’t buy as many goods and services. This leads to a decline in the amount of money the state gets from sales tax. Because of this decline in sales tax, services that are funded by the state, such as King County Metro, have less money. This means they have to charge more for everything, U-Pass included.

However, not all of the news is bleak. Kavanagh said UW Transportation Services has experienced some savings due to reduced gas prices in its on-campus buses and trucks.

Husky Nightwalk is one example of this type of program.

Ralph Robinson, UWPD assistant chief of police and administrator for Husky Nightwalk, said that although budget cuts haven’t yet negatively affected Nightwalk, that is no assurance for the future.

One thing is certain, however: the demand for Nightwalk’s service is ever-increasing, especially in the winter. Robinson explained that demand is “sporadic in many areas” and that it increases as the weather gets bad. While this typically means Nightwalk will be in higher usage for winter quarter, gas prices will not affect the availability of the service, Robinson said.

As fears emerge that gas prices may have started to creep upward again, it is still unclear how they will affect UW transportation services in the future.

“What means most is stability in the market,” Kavanagh said. “[High gas prices] are only a problem if you don’t see them coming.”

Reach reporter Chaitra Sriram at news@dailyuw.com.