Bailey Donine

Rancho Santa Margarita, Orange County, California
8:13 p.m. Sunday, April 19

Less driving means lower gas prices

As people continue to work and stay home because of COVID-19 in Rancho Santa Margarita, I have noticed that gas prices have dropped as low as a dollar.

Living in Southern California is not cheap, and one of the things that comes with that is expensive gas prices. Right now gas stations are running the cheapest gas (which is what I use) between $2.20 to $2.99. Gas normally runs about $3.89 to $4 for the cheapest. These gas stations are all in a range of 5 miles of my house.

I am in complete shock, as gas prices never decrease this heavily.

I definitely think about all the businesses that are being affected by COVID-19, but sometimes it is hard to wrap your head around businesses that thrive no matter what and how something can actually affect it. The oil industry is not thriving due to the decrease in gasoline prices. While customers are benefitting, they have nowhere to go.

When all of this is over, I hope the recovering economy can support keeping gas prices low. It will be a while before people who have been laid off or lost their jobs completely can afford to pay top dollar for gas.

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