California is a huge state, with both sprawling metropolises and vast rural areas. And getting around isn’t cheap.
Californians have historically paid more for gasoline than the rest of the country because of high gas taxes and state requirements for cleaner, more expensive fuel blends. Refinery closures have increased costs by forcing the state to import more gasoline. And that was before the war with Iran sent oil prices soaring.
This week, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded in California was about $6.15 a gallon, up from about $4.90 a year ago, according to the AAA motor club. The U.S. average is $4.56.
We talked to people all over the state to understand how higher fuel prices were affecting their lives and businesses. Here is what they told us.
Patrick VanHorn, 71, of Ventura, and his wife decided against flying to visit relatives in South Carolina this summer, because a round-trip ticket would have cost more than $1,500 per person.
Instead, he said, they are planning to drive their new Kia EV9 electric sport utility vehicle across the country. The car’s range is 300 miles, he said, so they will be stopping frequently to recharge.
Santiago Peralta, 41, of West Covina, owns a landscaping business and had to raise prices on his lawn maintenance services because the cost of gas to power his tools has risen. He pays about $200 daily to run his equipment, and $80 to fuel his truck. He’s going to wind down the maintenance part of his business if prices stay high, he said.
Maria Moreno, 42, of Los Angeles, owns a food truck and is buying fewer ingredients to stock her mobile kitchen because it costs her $20 more to fuel up her vehicle.
She has laid off her helper, seen a decline in customers and contemplated shutting down her business if gas prices don’t come down this summer.
Cheryl Rogers, 89, of Goleta, is a retired city planner who used to car-pool with friends to lectures, theater productions and music classes. But she has a 20-year-old Buick sedan that gets less than 20 miles to the gallon.
She recently asked her friends to chip in some money for her to buy gas — a conversation that went “not well,” she said. So now she’s staying home more often.
Paco Flores, 40, of Oxnard, is a strawberry farmer who has seen the price of biodiesel, which powers his tractors and other machinery, skyrocket. It used to cost $800 to $900 to fill his equipment. The last time he filled up, it was $1,500.
He has also been buying fertilizer in bulk to try to get ahead of price spikes that have occurred because supplies have been constrained through the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East.
Iris Levitis, 46, of Santa Rosa, is an engineer who stopped driving her electric vehicle to work and started commuting 14 miles on her bicycle.
That’s so her husband, Dan, 48, can now use her car to take their children to school. He would normally use their larger, gas-powered minivan to do that, but a full tank now costs $110.
Cara Meredith, 47, of Oakland, and her husband, James, 58, just bought their first electric vehicle to replace their S.U.V. because their gas bills had gotten way too high.
With one car for their family of four, and with the need to shuttle their children to school and soccer practice, they were spending $500 per month on gas. They have to pay $400 to install a charging outlet at their home, but hope to quickly recoup those costs.
Tyler Holybee, 27, of Oakland, takes Bay Area Rapid Transit to work in downtown San Francisco five days a week. He has been a longtime transit user and has noticed that others seem to be crowding onto the trains as gas prices have gone up because the BART cars have been more packed lately.
Joshua Ashenmiller, 54, of Los Angeles, has been driving an electric vehicle for 12 years. Whenever he drives past a gas station advertising fuel for $6 a gallon, he said, “I get a smug feeling.”
Orlando Mayorquín is a Times reporter covering California. He is based in Los Angeles.
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