‘We’re here to help’: Bend gas station customers and employees react to a month of self-serve option

(Update: Adding video, comments from gas stations)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- It's been a month now since Oregon law changed to allow self-serve gas. Governor Tina Kotek signed House Bill 2426 a month ago, allowing drivers across the state to choose between having an attendant pump their gas or do it themselves.

Previously, the option was only allowed in rural counties.

"At this point with this, fewer people who are actually wanting to serve themselves, we're just keeping everything the way it is," Kizer Couch, Stop and Go Shell Gas Station's owner and operator, said Thursday.

Couch said staff will continue to pump gas, if you need assistance, clean your windows and take trash.

"We have grown since the first time you were out here. There have been people who wanted to do their own service, but for the most part we're still doing everything," he said.

Couch said he now sees 15% to 20% of people pumping their own gas. A month ago, it was about 10%.

At the Shell there are signs -- a step by step guide on how to do it.

 At the Sinclair Gas Station, attendants have been guiding customers through the process.

Manager Penny Ashley said, "We're just approaching everyone. We want everybody to keep their jobs. We're still hiring people, and we're here to help."

 With Oregon legalizing self-serve gas, that leaves New Jersey as the only state in the nation to prohibit people from pumping their own.

"The people who've moved here from out of state and are used to it are the ones that are pumping," Ashley said.

 At the Shell station, they've decided not to have a separate lane for self serve. And at Sinclair, they haven't decided if they'll make the change.