For years, transit planners in Los Angeles, California, urged people to ditch their cars, but nobody budged. Now gas prices have hit $6.20 a gallon, and folks are listening. Metrolink and LA Metro are both seeing more riders as commuters rethink whether driving is worth it.
Take Autumn Beno-Morris. She travels over 70 miles each way to downtown LA. “Right now there is no way I could afford to drive into the city every day,” she told ABC7 Eyewitness News.
Meredith Yeoman, who heads up communications for Metrolink, watched ridership jump 4% almost overnight when fuel costs spiked, per the outlet. “There’s a cost-prohibitive nature to driving right now,” she said.
According to the news report, the average Metrolink commuter is going 72 miles a day, round-trip. In a car that gets 25 miles per gallon, that means three gallons per day, about $18 at today’s price. A Metrolink day pass costs $15, and that also covers any Metro bus or rail transfers.
So what pushed gas up so high? Mostly, the war in Iran. That’s tightening oil supplies across the world. California is also dealing with some of its own problems: major refineries like Valero and Phillips 66 are offline, squeezing the supply for the state’s strict fuel blends.
Earlier this year, a gallon of gas cost $5.29, 80 cents more than the month before. Now, it’s at $6.20.
Internet Reacts To $6.20 Gas Prices in California
The comment section went several directions at once, with some blaming the policy and others pointing at the war. “Blame Newsom and the Democrats all you want, but they didn’t start a war of choice with Iran,” one person wrote. Another was darker about where things are headed: “We won’t be surprised if it gets higher and higher by the day. Car-free city dream is coming true, because nobody can afford a car.”
The EV argument came up and got immediately complicated. “Here’s the great catch. You buy or lease a hybrid or EV and your car insurance goes up since replacement value of those cars are so high. They are hitting us from every angle,” one comment read. The conspiracy framing followed close behind: “Isn’t that the point, force you to take public transportation. The slow death of a frog.”
The political accountability angle landed with some force. “Every problem under Biden was his fault but now it’s actually the governor. Let’s just admit we got played by the ‘make America affordable again’ guy,” one person wrote. And one comment skipped the politics entirely: “The politicians need your tax money so they can launder it to themselves. Do your part, people.”
Still, transit experts are keeping their expectations in check. Spikes in ridership haven’t always stuck around. Look at 2022, when gas soared after the Ukraine war. People gave the train a shot, but lots of them went back to driving once prices leveled off. The big question now is whether this time is different: will high gas prices be the norm, and will the transit system in California be ready to hang onto these new riders for good?
For now, the trains are busier, and the gas stations are emptier.
