Los Angeles is long known for its sprawling freeways and famous car culture. However, the city is quickly reaching a breaking point as fuel costs skyrocket. The simple act of driving is turning into a miserable experience for working-class residents.
Regional gas prices are now soaring past $8 a gallon. Residents in the once-thriving Golden State are checking their bank accounts in utter disbelief. The financial pain is very real in a state where filling a gas tank requires a triple-digit investment.
"It's very painful to drive in L.A. right now, and especially if you're barely making minimum wage, it's not even worth driving," Amador, a resident from Santa Clarita, told Fox News. "Thought it was a meme, thought it was AI, but looking at it up close, it's kind of crazy to think you're paying almost $9."
"It’s ridiculous," Aida, a mother originally from Nebraska, told reporters. "Can I swear on the news? I said, 'God d---! That was too much.' It's too much for those prices."
"This is so crazy," added Bessy, a local resident born in El Salvador. "I never thought gas [was] gonna go that [high]. Like it's just crazy."
Fox News visited multiple gas stations across Los Angeles County to speak with struggling drivers. Everyday citizens expressed disbelief at gasoline prices approaching $9 per gallon. According to AAA, California’s average price per gallon recently hit $6.01, compared to a national average of just $4.30.
The highest price spotted by reporters was at a Chevron station in Downtown Los Angeles. A regular gallon of gas cost an astounding $8.29. The highest grade of diesel ran $8.89 per gallon at the exact same location.
Drivers overwhelmingly reported that filling up their tank now exceeds $100. Nick, a Los Angeles resident originally from Phoenix, said he just paid $110 at the pump. Other drivers are simply choosing to pump what they can currently afford.
"I don't even look… I can't look at it," Aida explained. "I put it in, and then I put the little thing up, and I turn around, and I put my card in, and I just pray to God. It's over $100."
"It’s surprising, right? That the prices are so high and that everything increases except salaries," another woman, Davieba, said. "To be sincere with you, I can’t even fill it up because of the prices. So I keep filling it up with only what I need."
"Before I’d fill it up with, because I have a small car, I filled it with $40," Manuel, a local Olvera Street market owner, stated. "Now it’s like $63 to $65, almost double."
The economic impact of these massive gas prices is devastating household budgets. Gas taxes and heavy refinery regulations keep California’s prices the highest in the entire nation. Drivers are watching their bank accounts drain as inflation remains elevated under the current economy.
When asked where that $100 would go if it wasn’t spent at the pump, drivers offered different answers. Bessy said she would use it for going out and having fun, while Davieba said the money would definitely go toward food. Manuel noted he would put the money back into his market, and Nick said he would have splurged at Coachella.
The massive fiscal weight of fuel is forcing people out of their personal vehicles. It is accomplishing what decades of progressive urban planning could not do. Citizens are abandoning their cars for public transit out of pure necessity.
"This time, I take the decision to not [drive] because of that," Bessy explained. "So I'm taking the train instead of paying for gas and parking."
"[I’m] taking as much public transportation as I can right now," Amador said. "If it's something that I have to drive, I'll drive. But other than that, if I can get there by a bus or a train, I'd take that instead."
"I want everything to be close, but unfortunately, jobs are far," Davieba noted. "So that necessity makes you go out, and you have to go out to find the money to live."
The high cost of fuel has added a layer of extreme volatility to an already aggressive driving environment. The stark contrast between California and the rest of the country is demoralizing for many working residents.
"Miserable, miserable, miserable," Aida said when asked to describe driving in Los Angeles. "I just came back from Nebraska. People in Nebraska, I did the worst three-point turn that a human has ever done, ever. And the man I cut off looked at me and was like, ‘Bye, have a good day!’"
"Here, you can just be minding your business and someone's like, ‘I'm gonna T-bone you!’ You know what I mean?" Aida continued. "So it's awful. It's very stressful. It's painful and very scary. I love LA. It's just, there's a lot going on here."
"Traffic is about the same, still brutal," Nick concluded regarding the local roadways. "[It’s] probably one of the worst places to be a driver in the U.S."