Patrons share how high price of fuel is affecting their lives
Gas prices climbed at the same rate as the temperature this summer all over the country. According to Nebraska Energy Statistics, what was around $3 a gallon this time last year in the Grand Island area has jumped over a dollar, to about $4.80 a gallon this July.
With this national story hitting everyone in the pocketbooks, the News-Register talked to four people at the local pumps at Casey’s and the Aurora Mall, as well as the Aurora Chamber of Commerce.
“It used to cost me $30 to go back and forth to work in a week and it costs $50 now,” said Central City resident Jerry Harville who works in Aurora.
Everyone interviewed had been impacted by the gas price increases, with most budgeting tighter and staying at home more often. Most considered not using the car or cutting down on trips to Grand Island from multiple times a month to once a week or twice a month. Jim James, a taxi driver based in Hall County, noted how gas prices affect other prices in the marketplace.
“I mean, the price of everything goes up because transportation of goods and services has gone up,” James said. “So I mean, inflation is based a lot on our fuel prices. Okay, it just cost me almost $70 to fill my tank, which is ridiculous.”
Courtney Hoelck from Giltner, who attends the University of Nebraska at Kearney and works at the Lochland Country Club in Hastings, uses technology to help keep costs low.
“I have the Upside app where I get cash back for each gallon, but that’s about it,” she stated.
Meanwhile Harville looks up gas prices every morning and evening around his hometown and work to determine when his self-described mileage-efficient car might guzzle down some gas for a lower price.
“I usually just kind of check gas prices when I leave Central City and then I check them when I get here,” he explained. “That’s about as far as I go. I just pick between which town.”
One economic effect of the gas price change is halting many summer vacations from those who plan to fly out once the COVID pandemic was less of a travel concern.
“We were going to go out to North Carolina to see family,” said Marquette resident and commuter to Aurora Kim Archer. “We’re definitely (delaying) and I’m sure quite drastically until they go down.”
Even without the summer vacation plans some voiced frustration at not being able to travel on a local level.
“It’d be a lot nicer to actually go do stuff instead of staying at home all the damn time, because you don’t feel like you can go anywhere,” Harville said.
Hoelck said that she was able to attend at least three bachelorette parties in various states, including South Dakota, Tennessee and Arizona, though not without sharing the cost.
“Yeah, it was so expensive, but we also split it a bunch of ways so it wasn’t as bad,” she said.
Aurora Chamber of Commerce executive director Justise Rhoden has noticed an increase in attendance to events like Bands on the Bricks during the summer, noting positives and negatives.
“I mean, it is kind of a benefit for our local community,” she elaborated. “Rather than feeling the need to get out of town to go do something fun, I think people are starting to realize that they can stay in town and have a lot of fun, too. I would say that it’s bad as far as our supply chain and sometimes getting resources here, but we’re really kind of building on that support to stay local.”
Whether people would stay here in as big of crowds if gas prices lowered remains to be seen.
“I wish that I could see the future,” Rhoden continued. “I’m kind of hoping that people will learn to still have fun in our community. I’m sure of that once gas prices go down.”
Meanwhile, at the gas stations on 16th Street, most participants in the survey said they wished they had that kind of foresight on when prices would come back down.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” James concluded.