Driving around Charlottesville is becoming more and more expensive for University students as the city's average price for gasoline has become the highest in the commonwealth.
According to Margaret Meade, manager of public and government affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic, gas prices broke an all-time high of $3.15 in Virginia this past Sunday.
"The previous record of $3.14 was set just after Hurricane Katrina in 2005," Meade said.
Meade attributed increasing gasoline prices to the high price of crude oil.
"Crude oil prices are high primarily because of the economy," Meade said. "There's nervousness, and people are looking toward investing in [the] commodities market and that's dropping the price."
Charlottesville gas prices are also on the rise and are currently the highest in the commonwealth, according to David Glassman, Regional AAA Mid-Atlantic office manager.
"The average [gasoline] price in Charlottesville is $3.17, compared to the [average price] in the rest of the state of which is $3.15," Glassman said.
The local Shell station on the corner of Ivy Road and Emmet Street has risen its price for regular self-serve gasoline by five cents since Sunday, according to manager Jason Clay.
"Generally speaking, everything in Charlottesville is more expensive," Clay said.
Some students are feeling the financial pressure. According to second-year College student Caitlin Donaghy, gas is much more affordable at home in Northern Virginia then here in Charlottesville, and the higher prices are affecting her financially.
"I don't have a job at school so [paying high gas prices] is really depleting my savings," she said.
Clay added that his station bases its prices on a percentage of what is charged by Virginia petroleum distributor Tiger Fuel.
According to Meade, Virginia has generally been one of the more affordable states for gasoline.
While the current national average price for regular self-serve is $3.23 per gallon compared to Virginia's $3.15 per gallon, Meade warned that gas prices may not have yet reached their peak this year, both nationally and locally.
"Gas prices usually go up [around springtime] because gasoline companies have to switch to more cleaner burning blends of summer gas ... then following that we go into the busy summer driving season," Meade said. "In all likelihood we have not seen the end of this spike and we expect gas prices to rise in the coming weeks"
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