costs are changing commutes High gas prices cause workers to consider distances to jobs as well as salary offers when deciding on positions

Yoko Olsgaard, of Oakland, Calif., starts her short commute on Wednesday, June 25, 2008, in Oakland, Calif. After turning down a job offer in Fremont, Callif., Olsgaard took a lower paying job as a project manager for Kaiser Permanente in Emeryville because she figured she would easily make up the difference in gas costs with a shorter commute.Photo by Mike Kepka / The Chronicle less Yoko Olsgaard, of Oakland, Calif., starts her short commute on Wednesday, June 25, 2008, in Oakland, Calif. After turning down a job offer in Fremont, Callif., Olsgaard took a lower paying job as a project ... more Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chroncle Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chroncle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close costs are changing commutes 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

A couple of months ago, Yoko Olsgaard was weighing offers for two project management positions. One was in Fremont, about 27 miles from her home in Oakland's Redwood Heights neighborhood. The other, which paid 10 percent less, was with Kaiser Permanente in Emeryville, about 7 miles away.

She ended up choosing the lower-paying Kaiser job. The main reason? The high price of putting gas in her 2001 Toyota Camry.

"I had to consider the cash outlay," Olsgaard, 53, explained. "That would have eaten into my take-home pay."

As the cost of filling the tank rises relentlessly, job seekers across the country increasingly are saying no to work sites that are too far from home, labor market experts report. In the Bay Area, long-distance commutes have become deal-killers for growing numbers of workers, a trend that is beginning to reshape travel and work patterns in the region.

Employers and staffing agencies say they've noticed a flurry of cases in recent months of job candidates saying they can't afford to fill the tank for 20-, 15- or even 10-mile drives to work.

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"We're making job offers that are being declined because of gas prices," said Kerry Kiley, Bay Area regional operations manager for staffing giant Adecco. "It's happening daily, for positions that pay up to $50,000 or $60,000. People are looking for jobs closer to home."

One of the effects of rising gas prices has been an increase in the use of public transportation. In recent months, thousands of Bay Area commuters have left the roads in favor of trains, buses and ferries. BART ridership rose 4.5 percent during the first three months of 2008 from the year before, while Caltrain saw a 6.4 percent jump.

But many jobs are in office parks or other sites far from public transit corridors, leaving few alternatives to the private automobile. People who earn $15 or $20 an hour often can't afford to pay $60 or more a week to gas up. So they're trying to keep their travel distances short.

Earlier this year, Alivia Richardson of Campbell took a temporary job for a month at a hospital in Palo Alto, a round trip of more than 40 miles. Richardson, 21, found herself putting $50 a week into her Honda Civic, even though she wasn't driving much after work. So when she got another temp opportunity in Palo Alto, she turned it down, settling instead on a job with a technology company in Mountain View.

"If it's not closer to home, I can't afford it," she said, noting that she had bought the Honda precisely because it got good gas mileage.

Trade-offs in play

The choices people make about where they live and work, how far they commute and what form of transportation they use have always involved trade-offs, experts note. The patterns that developed in much of America during the post-World War II period were based on relatively cheap suburban housing and cheap energy.

Housing has been hard to afford for many years now. More recently, energy has shot up in price. For many people, that's making what once were reasonable choices about where to live and work untenable.

"The labor market and the housing market are responsive," said Martin Wachs, director of the transportation, space and technology program at Rand, a Santa Monica think tank.

"Those markets adjust to conditions. In the shorter term, there is a reshuffling in which people live closer to work by changing jobs or changing residences. In the longer run, it could result in higher-density housing near worksites."

Some people, especially those who are young and single, with fewer roots in their communities, find it easier to move near to work, Wachs said. Others, especially those who are settled, find it easier to seek jobs closer to home.

But when the cost of fuel rises as precipitously as it has this year, many people don't have the luxury of weighing options. They simply can't afford to go to work far away.

"Now that gas prices are up to almost $5 a gallon, considering something like that is very important," Richardson said.

As a result, persuading employees to hit the road has become a major headache for businesses in fields such as construction, landscaping and event management, in which work often involves travel to widely dispersed locations.

Travel-time compensation

"It's the story of my life right now," said Steve Scher, owner of Acrobat Staffing, a San Francisco firm placing temporary workers in food service and hospitality jobs, often one-time events.

Acrobat workers such as food servers and cooks have begun asking to be paid for travel time to offset the increased cost of fuel. "They don't want to get into the car unless I offer them an incentive," Scher said.

Lauren Labinger, senior account manager in Acrobat's Santa Clara office, said the agency's employees increasingly are refusing jobs. "I can usually get people to go to Palo Alto, but any city further than that - Redwood City, Belmont, San Mateo - that's our dead zone," she said.

To get staff members to travel longer distances, Acrobat is encouraging people to carpool, taking steps to make sure riders share gas costs with drivers.

"If there's a job in Palo Alto and they're coming from the city, they meet in the office," Scher said.

Paula LeDuc Fine Catering manages events throughout the Bay Area, including in Wine Country, often 50 miles or more from its Emeryville headquarters. It has an on-call culinary and service staff of more than 400 people who are frequently asked to handle events far from their homes.

The company has long paid its staff for travel time, using rates based on a grid that divides the Bay Area into zones. As gas prices have soared recently, the company hasn't bumped up the rate. Instead, it's developed a shuttle and carpool program. And it doubles the travel rate if employees carpool.

"It's not a cost we can pass on to our clients," said Winn Burda, director of event management. "Paying out more and more is not an option."

In the long run, the labor market will adjust to high energy prices, transportation experts predict.

"Employers will offer four-day, 10-hour schedules. More people will be working at home. Company vans and jitneys will be circulating. Employers will have satellite work centers," said Alan Pisarski, author of the "Commuting in America" reports of the Transportation Research Board in Washington.

Meanwhile, workers are finding that giving up long commutes is not only good for their wallets, but also for their spirits. They have more time and less stress in their lives. And some say they feel better about spewing less pollution into the atmosphere.

"Looking back, I think it was a wise decision," Olsgaard said of her decision to work in Emeryville instead of Fremont. "I'm trying to become a more green person, so it appeals to me."