In June, the Denton County Trans­portation Authority’s Commuter Express bus service between Denton, Lew­isville and Dallas experienced record ridership.

DRC/Gary Payne

A Denton County Transportation Authority Commuter Express bus picks up passengers at one of its University of North Texas stops Wednesday. Officials attribute the renewed interest in bus service between Denton, Lew¬isville and Dallas to a spike in gas prices.

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Passengers took more than 8,000 rides on the commuter buses in June, breaking a previous monthly record set in April. The commuter service has seen a 53 percent rise in rides from last June, officials said.

“Gas prices went up and up, bringing in a rash of riders,” said John Hedrick, DCTA president.

Passengers have taken more than 60,000 rides on the commuter bus service so far this year, up 38 percent from the 44,000 to date last year.

Students and employees at the University of North Texas and Texas Wo­man’s University who make the commute between Dallas and Denton are turning to the commuter bus as an alternative to driving.

“Gas is so very expensive, it would be hard to make the drive,” said Sienna Chen, a UNT student.

DCTA officials estimate commuters spend $800 a month making the trip between Dallas and Denton. A monthly commuter bus pass costs $85, and an annual pass is priced at $800. UNT students and faculty ride the commuter bus for free because they pay a transportation fee to the school.

“I ride the bus because it is free, safe and comfortable,” said Zarate Ismael, who is originally from Mexico City and just finished his English classes at UNT last week.

Those who ride the bus also save time because the 43-passenger vehicle can use the HOV lane, Hedrick said.

“Also, students can read and study on the bus,” he added.

DCTA supervisor Renee Boehringer said she thinks that greater publicity is contributing to the increased ridership on the commuter bus line, which began operating in May 2006.

Ridership has gone up because of “word of mouth,” she said. “People are realizing that we are out here. They are realizing how much money they can save and how relaxing it can be.”

Peggy Hendrickson, who works at UNT, also noticed the increase in passengers.

“Last year there were maybe five or six [passengers],” said Hendrickson, as she waited recently with 20 others for the bus to arrive. “I do not know if it is because of improved advertisement or because gas is now ridiculous instead of just terrible.”

In March, the Federal Transit Administration award­ed DCTA with the Suc­cess in Enhancing Ridership Award. This award was given to three transit agencies with populations between 200,000 and 1 million that significantly increased their ridership over a two-year period.

“We received the award for our marketing ideas and for making the service work,” Hedrick said. “Also, we got it for working with the university.”

DCTA plans to move its headquarters for bus operations and maintenance from the leased facilities on Mayhill Road to the intersection of Teas­ley Lane and Shady Oaks Drive in Denton.

A DCTA rail line compatible with Dallas Area Rapid Tran­sit should be fully operating by 2010, Hedrick said.

“People will be able to step off our rail and onto [the] DART rail,” he added.

In time, even the transfer between lines will be eliminated, Hedrick said. Commuters will be able to ride the rail from Dallas to Denton without chang­ing lines.

“I think the rail will greatly open UNT to students who have to make the commute from Dallas,” he said.

HILARY RASCH can be reached at 940-566-6912. Her e-mail address is hrasch@dentonrc.com .

Temperatures in the 100s and humidity in the teens have again multiplied the drought index into the danger zone.

Denton County commissioners declared not only a ban on outdoor burning, but also a local disaster. With the second action, Jody Gonzalez, as the county’s emergency management coordinator, can position crews and equipment in case a grassfire grows large.

“Yesterday (Monday), the humidity got down to 17 percent,” Gonzalez said. “At that point, it gets very dangerous, even with burn bans. A mechanical failure on a vehicle or a cigarette butt where it shouldn’t be is enough to start a grassfire.”

Violation of the burn ban is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $500.

The disaster declaration also allows the county to seek reimbursement should a fire get large enough and expensive enough to fight that it qualifies for federal help.

Currently, county lands are averaging 593 on the Keetch-Byram Drought Index, which is used to assess the potential for fire. The highest possible reading on that index is 800, and a reading of 575 would be high enough to ban fireworks, Gonzalez said.

The southern, southeastern and central parts of the county are driest, according to data mapped by the Texas Forest Service.

There is only the slimmest chance for some relief from outer bands of rain from Hurricane Dolly, which is forecast to come ashore near Brownsville.

Instead, the hurricane could make the heat and high pressure worse, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Daniel Huckaby. Because a hurricane is a low-pressure system, air rushes in and rises up.

“And whatever goes up must come down,” Huckaby said, adding that the sinking air of a neighboring high-pressure system intensifies the heat. “We had a similar situation with Rita several years ago, where it got up to 105 to 110 degrees in Waco and Corsicana.”

With the long-range forecast continuing as mostly high heat and low humidity, Gonzalez said he was concerned the Keetch-Byram index would climb above 700.

“We haven’t been at 700 for quite some time,” he said.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .