NEWTON, Mass. — Whether you’re traveling for work or weekend plans, you’ve probably noticed prices at the pump are still going up.
“It’s insane, it’s totally insane,” Oliver Tayu, a driver in Newton, said.
“It’s ridiculous $4.68 I mean, come on, that’s a lot,” Beth Rush, another driver, said.
According to AAA, the national average of a regular gallon of gas increased by 25 cents for the second straight week.
“I got $50, and it’s probably gonna give me like half a tank,” Rush said.
Tayu said he commutes an hour to work seven days a week, and he’s continuing to feel the impact of high gas prices.
“Usually I fill up my tank for like 50 bucks. Now it’s about $80,” Tayu said.
However, the higher prices are impacting some more than others.
“I know people that have just stopped working because of the distance... like if somebody is making $10 an hour and he has to drive and fill up the tank for $80, so there’s no point in going to work,” Tayu said.
“My kids, I mean, they’re in their 20’s, you know, they’re barely making it because they work 40 hours a week, they can’t afford to live anywhere because it’s so expensive and then they got gas on top of that, so it’s not helping,” Rush said.
Concerns continue to grow that prices will get worse before there’s any relief.
“What’s gonna happen when our kids grow up? What is it gonna be $10 a gallon? Nobody’s gonna be able to afford it,” Rush said.
But not every driver has to pay more. Owners of electric vehicles said they’re happy to be avoiding gas prices.
“All my friends with gas powered cars are looking at us pretty envious sitting at these charging stations paying pretty much next to nothing compared to gas,” Jen Huynh said.
The difference in prices at the pump vs. charging stations can be significant.
“It’s great in the sense that, you know, generally speaking, we pay about $16 a charging session from empty to full, so that’s pretty cool, and that’s probably about on a monthly basis four or five times, depending on how much driving we do,” Nason Sinkula said.
But many with no other options to avoid driving are stuck paying the prices and finding a way to make it work.
“If it doesn’t change, I don’t know what people are gonna do, I mean, I don’t know how people survive,” Rush said.
According to AAA, the average price of a regular gallon of gas across the country is $4.52 as of Sunday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW