With the national average price of gas nearing $4 per gallon, many students may be looking for another way to get around.

Murray Calloway Transit Authority (MCTA) is the only public transportation in Murray, and the service is free to all students with a Murray State Racercard.

The MCTA has four different routes in Murray: the red, blue, gold and late night routes.

The red route consists of stops at Campus Suites, Regents and White residential colleges, Wrather Museum and West Farm.

The blue line goes to Walmart, Walgreens, Kroger and down 4th street.

The gold line goes to the residential college circle and to Faculty Hall.

The other line is the late night line which runs until 10 p.m. for students who need to make a late night run to or from Kroger, Walmart and The Big Apple Cafe.

Along with saving money, taking the Racer Routes can also help save the environment.

A report from the American Public Transportation Association states that taking public transportation lessens the impact on the environment and helps the United States save on oil and boost jobs. In 2009, public transportation saved the U.S. almost $4.2 billion annually.

According to another report from the American Public Transportation Association, public transportation saved roughly 37 million metric tons of carbon dioxide a year. Also, if one person switched from driving a 20-mile round trip to taking public transportation, carbon dioxide emissions would decrease by 4,800 pounds.

A former Murray State student has done research on how using public transportation is cost efficient for Murray State students. In 2009, Mengrui Ni conducted a study on how the Racer Routes can be cost efficient and help the environment.

Ni studied the amount of people who use the Racer Routes, the amount people who know about it and why people do or do not use the service. Ni’s study found more students are taking the gold route than any other.

Ni’s research concluded that the Racer Routes has the potential to be cost-efficient.