Pittsburgh-area drivers sound off on rising gas prices
With gas prices continuing to rise amid the ongoing conflict in Iran, Pittsburgh-area drivers were sounding off at the pumps.
Gas prices reaching $5 per gallon seems all but inevitable and many drivers said they do have their limit.
There are different approaches to these rising prices. Some take the approach of not looking.
"Like the other day, I look at the price and I go, "Holy cow, it's over $5," Mike West said.
Another approach is so seethe over the prices.
"Very expensive, extremely expensive," another person said. "So hard, it's difficult."
GasBuddy.com Head of Petroleum Analysis Patrick De Haan said that filling your gas tank right now is roughly $15 to $30 more than it was a couple of months ago.
For West, it took $146 to top off his truck
"It's expensive to fill up," West said. "If I had to drive it every day, I'm sure it'd be something I'd think about more."
"It shouldn't cost $46 to fill a Honda Civic," another person said.
De Haan said that military actions in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday has already added another 13 cents per gallon to the gasoline price pipeline.
"You can watch how quickly they pass it along or don't," De Haan said, noting that unless a deal is made, he doesn't see a path that will stop average fuel prices from hitting the $5 per gallon mark.
If prices were to reach the $5 per gallon threshold, that would be a line in the sand.
"I would say I'd try to drive less and take the bus and walk more," one person said.
"It's time to really think about cutting back," another person said.
But cutting back is something that not everyone can do.
"Gotta keep on paying," another person said. "What else could we do?"
According to De Haan, prices reaching $6 per gallon is definitely not a foregone conclusion and he said that we are probably on the path towards that and that whether or not we get that far is up to President Trump or up to Iran.
De Haan said that right now, the drivers are hostages to their lifestyles and really can't cut back, but summer travel is discretionary and it could be significantly impacted, because even if the war ended today, prices will like remain high through the summer and beyond.
