As the price of gas hits a record high in Nova Scotia, hybrid cars are in big demand and bus ridership is up.

The price of regular gasoline in Halifax reached $1.44 on Friday when the province reset the pricing schedule, climbing about six cents a litre. It costs even more to fill up in communities farther from the city.

With a steady climb in pump prices, car dealerships are seeing hybrid vehicles vanish from their lots.

"We're out of stock," said David Ramsay, owner of the Honda dealership in Sydney, where regular gas is now $1.445. "With fuel becoming more and more of a factor, there's certainly been an increase in interest in hybrid vehicles."

Ramsay said he sold out last month and doesn't expect to receive any more of the fuel-efficient vehicles for at least another month.

The Toyota dealership in Sydney usually has about six hybrid vehicles, but stock is now down to two.

Eleanor Anderson, with an environmental educational organization, said gas prices are certainly a factor, however, more people are thinking green.

"We have increased inquiries every week on hybrid vehicles," said Anderson, with Atlantic Coastal Action Program Cape Breton.

"There's lots of benefits. For the car owner, they are fuel-saving vehicles. There's no loss of performance … and of course for the environment and all of us there's the emissions savings."

The federal government is also sweetening the deal by offering buyers rebates for recent fuel-efficient models.

More people taking the bus

The steady climb in pump prices is a big reason why more people are taking the bus or ferry in the Halifax region, says Lori Patterson, spokeswoman for Metro Transit.

"We've seen an increase — 9.2 per cent — over the past two months of this year over last year, so certainly that probably reflects what's going on with fuel prices," she said.

Last month, Patterson said, Metro Transit sold 1,300 more monthly passes than it did in May 2007.

She cites a number of other factors driving up bus ridership, including traffic snarls, the rising cost of car insurance and environmental concerns.