WAKE FOREST - Last week Monique Wertis spent $80 for gas to drive her SUV to Raleigh, where she works for the state Department of Public Instruction.

This week she was one of the first riders on the new express bus from Wake Forest to downtown Raleigh.

"It's solely because of gas prices," Wertis said this morning from her seat on the bus, operated by Capital Area Transit.

Sitting across the aisle was Trudy McBride, a 22-year veteran of the daily slog down Capital Boulevard.

"I'm excited about this bus," said McBride, who works for the City of Raleigh. "I've been paying $60 a month to park and $50 a week for gas, so I'm really looking forward to the savings."

On its first morning of operation, the Raleigh-Wake Forest Express carried 8 to 10 riders on each of its three hourly departures from an unpaved park-and-ride lot on South White Street in downtown Wake Forest.

With regular gas selling for a record $4.05 per gallon in the Triangle, business is expected to pick up.

Triangle Transit partnered with CAT to start the new 20-mile rush-hour express route, which includes a midway stop at Triangle Town Center. Also today, Triangle Transit began running a new Wake Forest-Wakefield circulator bus on a 12-mile, one-hour loop.

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