The Tri-State Commute Story Proposal

My story will look at the commute of workers who hold jobs around the Tri-State and must travel well over twenty minutes to reach work and students who commute from the Tri-State who attend Marshall University and how high gas prices affect said commutes.

I will research why these employees travel throughout the Tri-State, and pay high gas prices when the paycheck that they make will just go right back to paying for gasoline. I also want to look at students who live in areas such as the Charleston/Teays Valley area, the northern Kentucky area and the Southern Ohio area to attend classes at Marshall. I also want to talk to the companies where people work and with the school on what they are doing to try to help the commute. 

Because of the drive this not only hurts the workers earnings and how much of the actual paycheck the workers uses for living expenses, but this could also affect the amount of hours they work and overall job performance. For the students, as they both tuition for school and the price of gas for the commute, they could not be able to afford going to school for that semester and be forced to stay in school longer and deal with growing tuition rates. 

: For workers I can get a list from where the employees on and focus on the commute from these areas. I will also check gas prices around the area to see if the commute is cheaper for others. With the students’ commute I can check with the admissions office and see how many students are commuting to Marshall not only for the summer but also in past semesters.

 Sources for the story will include:John Widdig works at Sunoco Chemicals, he lives over 40 minutes away and commutes five days a week to work. I’ll check to see what he does with the commute and how he deals with it.

Kevin Soucy: Is the plant manager for the Sunoco Chemicals plant in Haverhill. Many employees work in different parts of the area, so I want to talk to him about what the plant is doing about the commute and see if the plant is helping workers make it to work on time.

President Kopp: What Marshall University is doing to soften financial problems of the commute to campus.

AAA: I want to see if the company who specializes in transportation has any advice on how commuters can find a cheaper way to work and school. (Ex. Cheaper gas sites, different routes.)

Commuter Students: Get a first hand student experience on what they do to keep financial costs down on the their trip to school every morning. See if the commute keeps the student from taking the classes the student needs.

I think this can be told in one story, but this also can be told in a three-part series. First would be a look at the workers, the second story looks at the student commute, then finally a last look a ways to help the commute for students.

There can be a follow-up if something happens that the work provides transportation for the worker or Marshall comes up with a new way for transportation between areas.