VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — People in Hampton Roads are growing tired of the increasing gas prices. 13News Now saw some drivers filling up separate gas cans with fuel to stock up before the price goes up again.
Scott Paine in Virginia Beach said it makes it difficult to enjoy traveling long distances. He doesn't know how much more his wallet can take.
"It's unreal that it jumps that much in one day or even a couple hours, it goes up," said Paine, who was pumping gas at the Harris Teeter along Princess Anne Road. "My wife and I are retired. We wanted to do some traveling, but we'll have to wait it out to see what happens with the price of gas, because that's a big chunk of money you're spending all on gas."
With prices fluctuating so much over the past two weeks, everyday drivers aren't the only ones worried about the rising costs.
City of Chesapeake Fleet Manager George Hrichak said he has to budget the fuel costs for several different city departments.
"Our customers are the internal services of the city. The fire department, police department, solid waste, and all those folks. So, it's our job to make sure they're on the road to serve us as citizens," said Hrichak.
Hrichak has to predict how much to budget for gas each year, but he always aims high to avoid any problems.
"I've got a significant amount in our fund balance to cover our contingencies," said Hrichak. "So, if fuel goes $10 a gallon, we got it covered."
The same goes for Virginia Beach City Fleet Management Operations Coordinator Jim Yost. He has to work around the budget when it comes to the city's fuel costs.
Yost said services such as sanitation, police, EMS, and so much more depend on the city's set fuel amount. Yost said he prepares the budget each year to handle high costs like the record-high prices we're seeing at gas stations.
"It definitely is concerning, the cost of fuel and what we'll have to pay in the future," said Yost. "We keep things rolling like it's an emergency all the time. We keep tanks topped off, generators topped off, we keep everything topped off so in case something does come up that's unexpected, we're in the emergency levels already."
Hrichak and Yost said city leaders in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach budget enough each year to keep emergency service vehicles running at all times, so no one has to worry about not having access to public safety.
Hampton Roads Transit officials said because of the high gas prices, they are expecting more people to use public transportation. Coordinators said they are working to bring in more operators to meet the expected demand.