By Lauren Chavez, Apr. 12, 2022
As of April 10, gas prices in Los Angeles County have reached an average of $5.87 per gallon. Cal Poly Pomona commuter students share with The Poly Post their thoughts on the increasingly costly drive to campus.
Jesse Campuzano | chemical engineering student
“It has become more of a challenge. It’s become more of a pain to constantly fill up my tank, and I’ve had to try and find easier ways to commute as well as carpool.”
Salvador Jara | finance, real estate and law student
“I feel like gas has become very expensive. Luckily, I only live 15 minutes away, so I get here pretty quick, but it’s still an expense and it feels like gas went up overnight.”
Samir El-Sayed | biotechnology student
“Well, I live in Redlands so it’s not a super close drive. I typically have to fill up gas about once a week, depending if I don’t go out on the weekend or anything. Lately, I’ve seen an increase each time I fill up my car anywhere from like $15 to $20, so that’s definitely making me not want to drive so much anymore. I used to only go to Costco to get gas, but the lines get so long; it’s such a big headache. So, instead I’d just go to a gas station by my house. Now, I’m like, ‘no, I will go to Costco because it really makes a difference.’”
Luis Gonzalez | biochemistry student
“The gas prices going up is certainly not fun. As for commuting, it’s not a far drive for me; It’s about 30 minutes. I have to fill up gas once a week and I don’t really have a job right now. Money isn’t an issue now, but it’s going to be an issue soon. I’m just hoping the prices will go down.”
Alexa Duarte | sociology student
“The gas prices are affecting me a lot because I have to drive here every day. So, I’m constantly putting in gas and the prices are insane.”
Haley Costa | hospitality management student “Honestly, the days that I have one class it makes me want to skip it because it costs too much just to drive here because I actually live in Rancho Cucamonga and it’s like a half an hour drive with no traffic, so it gets pretty expensive.”
Monique Se | general biology student
“It’s definitely been more stressful because it’s more money. It’s like ‘oh, first, I’m paying for college’ and now I have to pay this much in gas. Honestly, it’s way too much when you add it all together especially since I need to fill up my car usually at least once a week.”
Connor Mustar | aerospace engineering student
“That’s actually the reason I’m here right now; it’s so that I’m not taking two trips back and forth from where I live. Right now, I’m taking fewer trips and just going to the library in between classes to study instead of driving home and back.”
Jenna Surdzial | chemistry student
“So I only commute here twice a week. Usually, I go home on the weekends since I live at the Village during the week. Those drives home and back here over the weekend definitely makes me think I might just stay here over the weekend.”
Mikayla Ford | apparel, merchandising and management student
“Since I live close, it doesn’t affect me much, but when I do want to drive home, which is like an hour away, it’s not convenient.”
Feature image by Zachary Chen