Managing Gas Prices

JOINING US. AS THE WAR IN IRAN CONTINUES, THE FALLOUT STATESIDE CONTINUES TO HIT OUR WALLETS WITH THE SURGE IN GAS PRICES IN FLORIDA TRIPLE A REPORTS THE AVERAGE PRICE PER GALLON JUST OVER $4. SOME PARTS OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA LIKELY AND CHARLOTTE COUNTIES SEEING PRICES JUST UNDER 4 BUCKS A GALLON. THE NATIONAL AVERAGE IS $4.12 PER GALLON. WGCUS EILEEN KELLEY LEARNS MORE ABOUT THE IMPACT. THE RISE IN PRICES IS HAVING ON DRIVERS. >> THERE'S NO ESCAPING. IT USED TO BE ONE COULD DRIVE A COUPLE OF BLOCKS EVEN A MILE OR 2 AWAY IN SEARCH OF THE CHEAPEST UNLEADED GASOLINE IN THE AREA. BUT NOT SO MUCH ANYMORE. BUT HERE WE ARE AGAIN WITH ANOTHER WAR. THIS ONE INVOLVING US AND ISRAEL AGAINST IRAN. GAS PRICES ARE SPIKING ACROSS THE COUNTRY CLOSER TO HOME THE AVERAGE PRICE OF GAS HAS SHOT UP ONE BELLERIN $0.44 A GALLON IN JUST 30 DAYS. ONLY ONE OTHER AREA IN THE COUNTRY. FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS, HAS EXPERIENCED A HIGHER GAS PRICE IN SUCH A SHORT WINDOW. AND FAYETTEVILLE BESTED FORT MYERS BY JUST A SINGLE PENNY. THAT'S ACCORDING TO MY AWFUL LOT OF THEM. SHE'S MANAGING EDITOR FOR AUTO INSURANCE DOT COM. AND SHE'S THE AUTHOR OF THE NEWLY RELEASED STUDY ON GAS PRICES ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND ITS IMPACT ON CONSUMERS IN THE FORT MYERS. THE AVERAGE CHANGE IS 50%. >> AND EVEN HIGHER THAN JAVON JACKSONVILLE, ORLANDO, MIAMI, WHICH IS AROUND 37%. HER REPORTING FOCUSED ON THOSE WHO COMMUTE TO WORK. >> SHE TELLS ME THAT NATIONWIDE THE COST TO FILL UP A CAR TAKE EACH WEEK JUMPED FROM $43 A WEEK TO 58. AND WE ALL KNOW IN FLORIDA, IT'S MORE LIKE A $20 INCREASE TO FILL UP THE TANK. SO I ASKED HER IF THESE INCREASES ARE CHANGING BEHAVIOR. >> ACTUALLY, WE'RE SEEING PEOPLE CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIORS. THE NUMBER ONE CHANGE IN ABOUT HALF OF PEOPLE ARE DOING THIS IS LIKE YOU SAID, CUTTING BACK ON EATING OUT, TAKE OUT FAST FOOD. THAT'S A REALLY KIND OF LOW HANGING FRUIT, I GUESS YOU COULD SAY FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE BECAUSE IT'S NOT A NECESSITY PER SE, BUT ALSO THE SECOND AFTER THAT, I THINK PEOPLE ARE DOING THE SECOND MOST OFTEN IS REDUCING THEIR SPENDING ON GROCERIES. AND WHILE SOME IN AMERICA MAY BE OKAY WITH THE ADDED MONEY IT TAKES NOW TO GET TO WORK. SHE SAYS YOU'RE REPORTING REVEAL THAT YOUNG PEOPLE ARE REALLY HAVING A TOUGH TIME AND IT'S FORCING PEOPLE TO GO OUT AND FIND ADDITIONAL JOBS JUST TO MAKE ENDS MEET. WE'RE SEEING YOUNGER COMMUTERS UNDER 30 ARE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO TAKE ON EXTRA WORK. SO ABOUT HALF OF PEOPLE IN THAT GROUP ARE TAKING ON MORE WORK OR AS PEOPLE IN THE 45 TO 60 AGE RANGE, LESS THAN 25% LESS THAN ONE IN 4 PEOPLE IN THAT AGE RANGE VERSUS ONE IN 2 YOUNG. PUT YOUR TEAM ON EXTRA WORK. EMPLOYERS REALLY ARE NOT DOING MUCH TO TAKE THE BURDEN OFF OF EMPLOYEES LIKE THEY ARE NOT OFFERING ADDITIONAL REMOTE WORK FLEXIBILITY, WHICH AS WE KNOW FROM PAST 5 OR 6 YEARS, A LOT OF EMPLOYERS DID TURN AROUND AND GIVE PEOPLE FLEXIBILITY THE ONLY 8% OF THE COMMUTERS WE SURVEYED SAID THAT THEIR EMPLOYER IS BUT LETTING THEM COME INTO THE OFFICE. FEWER DAYS A WEEK. AND ACTUALLY, AS WE'VE SEEN OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS, EMPLOYEES ARE AT ASKING PEOPLE TO COME INTO THE OFFICE MORE. >> IN HER REPORTING OF PHILO FOUND THAT ROUGHLY 20% OF COMMUTERS SAID THAT THEY ARE LIKELY TO PURCHASE AN ELECTRIC OR HYBRID VEHICLE IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS AS A RESULT OF THESE RISING GAS PRICES. SHE SAYS THAT WILL BE THE SUBJECT OF HER NEXT BIG REPORTING PROJECTS FOR A LINK TO THE STUDY. GO TO A WGCU DOT ORG. FOR WGCU NEWS. THIS IS EILEEN KELLY.