Long commutes drain wallets

www.pe.com 03/04/2003 By MICHAEL FISHER THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

FUEL: The price of unleaded has risen by 43 percent since last year in the two-county region.

Skyrocketing gas prices forced Anthony Frias to downsize.

The Lake Elsinore construction worker was spending nearly $80 per week commuting to jobs in Los Angeles and Orange counties before he traded his new Dodge Ram last week for a smaller used pickup.

"I needed something more economical," Frias said Monday. "The gas prices were killing me."

The cost of unleaded gas in Riverside and San Bernardino counties has jumped nearly 18 percent since last month, and more than 43 percent since last year, according to the American Automobile Association.

In response, some Inland motorists say they are changing their spending habits, canceling trips and going out less to save money.

Blame spread around

Factors driving the nine-week rise in gasoline prices include war fears, lower crude oil imports, severe winter storms in the eastern U. S. and the switch from winter- to summer-formula gas, the Automobile Club of Southern California reported.

The American Petroleum Institute blames the rising crude oil costs on refiners, saying the increases are being fueled by plunging oil exports from Venezuela. That country struggled through a two-month labor strike that reduced its oil exports to a trickle.

Peter Phun/The Press-Enterprise Jackie Arzate pumps gas in Hemet. She said higher pump prices mean she makes fewer trips to visit her grandchildren in Lakeview.

William Robinson of Perris isn't buying the explanations, and is furious at the gasoline industry.

"My opinion is that our biggest terrorists are the oil companies. They're hurting a . . . lot of people." said Robinson, who dismissed the Bush administration's response to spiking gas costs.

"Bush won't do a . . . thing about it," he said.

Standing at a Hemet gas station, Nacho Ortega filled the pickup truck he uses in his gardening and landscaping business and said the increasing prices were just part of life.

"What are you going to do? Every year it goes up and it goes down," he said.

Conservation urged

Experts say there are simple steps drivers can take to squeeze every last mile out of their gas tanks.

Properly inflated tires, well-maintained spark plugs and a clean air filter can all boost a vehicle's mileage, Auto Club spokeswoman Elaine Beno said.

"You ought to use the most energy-conserving vehicle you own as much as possible," Beno said. Ride-sharing and using public transportation can also help, she said.

So far, the rising prices have not affected sales of new cars or sport utility vehicles, said Jay Gorman, executive vice president of the 1,400-member California Motor Car Dealers Association.

"People buy vehicles generally without regards to the mileage but based upon their needs," he said. "If you've got a family with five or six kids, a compact car isn't going to help you a bit."

People "have to get to work, so what are the options? You re-adjust your discretionary income," Gorman said.

Doing less, spending more

Jackie Arzate said higher gas prices have forced her to cut back on visits to her grandchildren and great-grandchild in Lakeview.

"I've had to stay home a lot more," the Hemet retiree said as she pumped $10 worth of gas into her Chevrolet Camaro.

At Costco in Temecula, motorists lined up three-deep Monday to save a few cents per gallon.

Michele Popiela of Wildomar says higher gas prices have forced her to cut down on dinner out with her husband.

"It's scary, because you don't know how high the prices will go," said Popiela, who commutes three days a week to San Diego. "We're going to have to cut back on things we never used to think about."

Moreno Valley's Charlie Perry said he is trimming his personal trips, because his work requires daily drives to Temecula. He said he may park his late-model Infinity in favor of a compact car that gets better mileage with cheaper gas.

County impacts

San Bernardino County buys its fuel at bulk rates for its 22 fueling sites, Roger Weaver, the county's fleet-management director, said. While the county pays below market prices, its prices have increased, he said.

The county has not enacted measures to counter the price hikes, Weaver said, but given the expected state budget cuts, county agencies are working on plans to trim spending.

The escalating gas costs won't keep Riverside County from conducting its normal business, spokesman Raymond Smith said. It might cost more, but "we can't stop patrolling and we can't stop checking on child welfare cases," Smith said.

The biggest consumer of gas is probably the Sheriff's Department, Smith said. Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Shelley Kennedy-Smith said most deputies gas up at county pumps and don't worry about prices at regular stations.

Reach Michael Fisher at (909) 368-9470 or mfisher@pe.com

Staff writers Marlowe Churchill, Imran Ghori, Rocky Salmon, Rich Saskal and Bradley Weaver contributed to this report.