The price to fill up your tank of gas is up and it's only a sign of things to come. According to GasBuddy.com, the price for a gallon of gas is up 41 cents today over this time last year($1.99 compared to $2.40).
If you're thinking it's because Florida’s gas tax went up, that's really only a fraction of the reason why. It's a tenth of a penny increase.
These rising gas prices will likely mean less people turning to places like Uber or Lyft to make some extra cash.
On any given week, Hugo Perez says he usually makes $300-400 driving for Uber and Lyft. This past holiday weekend was especially good to him.
"People were making good money driving. It was unbelievable,” he told us.
Weekends like that this year will likely be harder to come by, he says, which could impact the supply of ridesharing drivers. "They'll drive but they'll drive less. Way less,” he says. “If the gas prices are going to go up then they're just going to be driving less."
According to gasbuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan, the price for a gallon of gas in Florida is expected to sit anywhere from 25 to 50 cents higher this year compared to last--thanks in large part to OPEC’s decision to cut production. "So OPEC's cut, intended to drive up prices, has been successful this far. And unfortunately that cut in production lowers supply is meaning higher prices and that's likely to affect much of the year,” he says.
DeHaan says the average South Florida driver will pay $120-180 more this year for gas.
Hugo, who drives for a living, says it's normal for him to log 300 miles on a weekend day.
"It makes a hole, it makes a gap but when gas prices were around $2.00-$2:15, it was very fair,” he says, “Going up 50-60 cents, that's going to make a very big difference."
There is some hope out there for lower gas prices, DeHaan says. He says President-elect Trump could lower the environmental standards for production, which would lower the cost.