Gas Prices Reach Yet Another Staggering High
In what has become a disheartening trend, gas prices have once again crossed another threshold and it won't be the last.
In the United States, a grim new reality has emerged alongside the cost of gasoline. Inflation coupled with mitigating circumstances fueled by Russia’s senseless attack on Ukraine and lingering pandemic-induced supply chain woes has caused the price of gas to shoot through the stratosphere. Now, gas prices have surpassed yet another staggeringly high threshold. And, unfortunately, individuals can expect gas prices to keep going up.
Gas prices, according to AAA, have now reached a national average of $4.62 per gallon. And that figure is projected to keep ticking upwards, especially as the country settles more into the summer season. Moreover, while $4.62 per gallon seems an unfathomably high price to pay, some states have it even worse. AAA’s statistics revealed that seven states are already paying above $5 per gallon on average. These states include California ($6.16), Alaska ($5.21), Hawaii ($5.44), Nevada ($5.31), Oregon($5.22), Washington($5.23), and Illinois ($5.00). New York and Arizona are expected to break the $5 threshold in the next few days, too. New York’s gas costs are currently hovering at $4.93. Arizona is slightly higher at $4.96.
Interestingly enough, while these numbers seem unsightly, the United States has still not broken its highest national average for gas prices on record. That record was set back in June of 2008 when the country was knee-deep in a Great Recession. When adjusted for inflation, that record sits at $5.38 per gallon. Considering the direction gas prices are trending in right now, however, the country is on track to break that record very soon.
It’s clear that gas prices are painfully high and, regrettably, they are poised to stay that way for the time being. But what is surprising is that those high prices are not stopping people from going out. CNN reported that this past Memorial Day saw nearly 35 million people out and about traveling by car. This amounts to a 4.6% increase in the number of travelers from the year prior. The fact that abysmally high gas prices are not deterring people from going out in the slightest speaks to a larger undercurrent currently sweeping the country. This past Memorial Day marked the first one in years where Covid restrictions are all but gone. Thus, it’s logical to reason that individuals fighting to regain any ounce of normalcy are willing to pay the high prices without batting an eye.
People’s willingness to pay higher gas prices to travel by car extends further out to air travel, too. A combination of mitigating factors, including inflated fuel prices and pilot shortages, have caused plane ticket prices to skyrocket similar to that of gas prices. But despite these exorbitant costs millions of people are returning to the skies. That is a further indication of how eager people are to resume life as it was pre-pandemic regardless of the damage it does to their bank accounts. All in all, the current situation with gas prices is a double-edged sword. People are once again going out and about at rates similar to those pre-pandemic but they are certainly paying for it.
