In addition to 40-year high inflation levels, Metro Business Daily's latest Gasoline Misery Index shows the typical American will spend an average of $720 more on gas than last year. In Arizona, residents are to projected to spend $800 more.
The index tracks how much more (or less) the average consumer will have to spend on gasoline annually year over year. The index is compiled from data from the American Automobile Association (AAA), as well as fuel efficiency data from the U.S. Department of Energy and average miles driven tracked by MetroMile.com. A week-by-week analysis predicts pain at the pump stands to increase.
Though prices have fallen in the past week, AAA says that if oil prices continue to rise, gas prices will follow suit and people will adjust accordingly by doing things like carpooling.
“People are doing what they told us they were going to do," AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said to Fox Business, “and they’re going to alter their driving habits."
In a post on AAA’s website, Gross said the demand for gasoline normally rises in March, but there has been a slight drop in demand that he said could be due to higher prices at the pump.
“In our new survey of drivers, 59% said they would change their driving habits or lifestyle if the cost of gas hit $4 per gallon,” Gross said. “And if gas were to reach $5, which it has in the Western part of the country, three-quarters said they would need to adjust their lifestyle to offset the pump price.”
According to Fox Business, some drivers and passengers have already started carpooling to work to lessen the impact of the high gas prices.
After hitting a record $4.33 per gallon on March 11, the national average has dropped slightly to $4.24 in the past week. AAA has said the primary reason is a global drop in crude oil prices, which peaked after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, but is now more than $20 lower and hovering near $105 per barrel. In Arizona, the current statewide average is $4.69 per gallon.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the national average for a gallon of gas was $2.33 in January 2021, when President Joe Biden took office. With the current average up to $4.24, Americans are now spending $1,003 more per year on gasoline today than when Biden was inaugurated.