‘Definitely going to hurt the wallet a little bit:’ Gas prices skyrocket

March 7, 2022 6:57 PM

Vanessa Perez,

Posted: March 7, 2022 6:57 PM

by Vanessa Perez

SPOKANE, Wash- People and Idaho and Washington are paying higher gas prices.

While Washington doesn’t actually rely on Russian supply for crude at our pumps, the Ukraine invasion has shaken up the markets and driven up the price of crude. As long as those prices go up, so, will the price at the pump.

“Today’s average price of $4.45 a gallon is the highest average price in Washington that we’ve ever seen,” AAA Washington public relations &Traffic Safety Program manager Kelly Just

The average price for a regular gallon of gas in Washington is now $4.44, which is up 40 cents from last week. In Spokane County, the price is $4.05 a gallon, which is up about 45 cents a week ago.

Idaho is seeing a very similar price hike, now at $3.96 for a gallon, up 43 cents from last week.

“I spend $100 filling up my truck as it is a week when the gas prices were in the 3.30s, 3.40s, so it’s definitely going to hurt the wallet a little bit,” said Tyler Pfeffer who lives in Spokane.

AAA says you’ll want to drive the speed limit, once you start driving above 50 mph it causes enough drag on your car to impact fuel economy.

Also, avoiding jackrabbit starts and stops will help save your gas.

When driving in town, adjust your speed to “time” the traffic lights. This reduces repeated braking and acceleration that consume additional fuel.

If you’re looking for a complete alternative, a bike is a good investment.

Rob Breidenbach is the manager at Spoke ‘N Sport and says the shop has seen a huge interest from people wanting a bike since the pandemic started.

He says there’s been a shortage of bikes over the last two years, but now they’re back to being well-stocked.

As the season approaches and gas prices soar, Breidenbach believes they’ll see even more interest.

“There’s a lot of people in this town that don’t have a lot of money and gas is killing them and if you can buy a bike to get around, we’re coming into the good weather a lot of people have jobs that they just leave earlier and are going to ride,” Spoke ‘N Sport manager Rob Breidenbach.