This conversation aired in the May 19, 2026 episode of Crosscurrents.
Click the button above to listen.
Getting around the bay has never been… cheap. But if you’ve stopped to fill up your gas tank recently, you’ve definitely noticed that the price per gallon, even with a cash discount, is higher than ever.
To understand what’s influencing that rapid increase in gas prices, Crosscurrents host Hana Baba speaks with KALW’s transportation reporter Zain Iqbal, for a segment of what we call “Getting Around the Bay.”
Interview Transcript:
HANA: Hey Zain, thanks for coming back!
ZAIN IQBAL: Hey there Hana!
HANA: So Zain, gas prices. We’re all feeling it right now. I just filled my tank for at least 20, 21 dollars more than I did last month and it’s feeling more and more difficult. Can you give us a rundown of what you’re hearing from folks about this?
ZAIN: For sure, people who drive gas-powered cars in the Bay Area are really feeling the prices. Right now if you’re living in San Francisco, the average cost is about $6.35 a gallon –– and that’s one of the highest prices in the nation.I stopped by a gas station near where I live in Oakland just off Lakeshore Avenue where prices were $6.59 for regular, and over $7 for premium.
And someone had actually tagged an expletive on the gas display sign…so, you know, we know how they are feeling.
But I wandered around and asked a few folks in person how they felt about the current price at the pump. I found that people are really willing to share their opinions!
Here’s how Traci Griffin of San Francisco described her experience.
Tracy Griffin: It is painful. This one was almost 90 dollars to fill up the tank.
HANA: Yes I am definitely feeling Traci’s pain right now.
ZAIN: And Traci said that was for her Honda Accord. She says she owns a second car that she’s too afraid to fill up right now.
Then there’s Anthony Green of Oakland. He said high prices have forced him to make tough decisions about his budget:
Anthony Green: You gotta actually decide whether you’re going to buy food or gas. It’s a trip. I’ve never been like this before and I’m 61 years old and have seen a lot of gas prices throughout my life but this right here is unheard of.
HANA: We know that the impact of the war on Iran is what’s driving up oil prices across the country. And we know California prices are higher now, but how much higher? Can you break it down?
ZAIN: Sure, so according to AAA, the current price for a regular gallon of gas nationwide is just over $4.50. In California, the average price is about $6.15 cents. And Californians are paying, on average, about $1.25 more per gallon than they were before the war started.
HANA: Ok, so why? Why is California’s gas so high?
ZAIN: So there are a couple of important factors here. Perhaps one of the most talked about are taxes. There’s a federal tax on gas that’s 18 cents per gallon. All 50 states have that same rate and it helps fund things like the highway system. While all 50 states and the District of Columbia have an additional fuel tax, California’s rate is the highest in the nation at 61 cents per gallon. That tax pays for transportation projects including maintenance, road repairs, and transit.
And it was about ten years ago that the California legislature passed a bill to increase the state tax. The idea was for the increase to pay for a backlog of local transportation projects, from freeway upgrades to pedestrian safety improvements.
For example in Alameda County, the tax helped pay for express lanes along the freeways and improvements to bicycle and pedestrian paths. Sonoma County uses the funds to maintain rural roads and bridges. These are big projects that local municipalities can’t fund themselves.
And speaking of counties, there are additional local sales tax on top of federal and state taxes.
And there’s also these fees that help pay for underground storage leaks from oil tanks, and help fund the state’s cap-and-trade program which requires oil refineries to off-set their carbon footprint to help fight climate change.
HANA: So there’s a number of taxes and fees that seem to be mostly for environmental reasons and to fund infrastructure. Are there any other reasons?
ZAIN: Yeah, California has a couple of unique policies that help reduce the impact fossil fuels have on the climate. One is a special blend of gas that helps reduce smog. The trade-off is, it’s more expensive to produce.
There’s something else that makes California’s prices higher. There are no pipelines bringing fuel in from other states. We rely on our own refineries to create that unique gas blend I mentioned. And we import the majority of our oil — over 60 percent of it — from foreign producers, including countries in the Middle East. So that means when there’s an international event that increases the price of oil like the one we’re seeing now, Californians may feel a stronger impact.
And speaking of refineries, two shut down within the last year: a Valero refinery just last month in Benicia and a Phillips 66 refinery in Los Angeles and this all can create a shortfall in production in the state, which in turn drives the cost up.
HANA: Ok so solutions: is California doing anything to try to help bring the prices down?
ZAIN: California lawmakers and energy experts held hearings in Sacramento to discuss supply uncertainty and, among other things, whether or not a gas tax holiday at the state level would make sense. President Trump also recently also floated this idea at the national level.
But Governor Newsom rebuked the president, saying the spike in oil prices is the president’s crisis of his own making and he should fix it.
Newsom went on to defend the state’s clean energy record and says the state is leading a transition away from fossil fuels. Newsom took a stand on the regulations that he says keep California cleaner than other states.
HANA: In the meantime, how are people going to handle the costs on their own? How are people coping?
Folks I talked to are simply driving less or planning out their trips more carefully. Some are trying to find the cheapest gas prices close to where they live. A lot of people I talked to brought up their Costco membership!
And a couple of people even said this spike made them seriously consider a hybrid or electric vehicle as their next car.
And Anthony, who we heard from earlier, said no one is getting a ride for free in his car for the time being.
Anthony Green: If I do go somewhere, I’ll piece up with people. They’re gonna have to put some money in. You know what I’m saying? I’m not doing it on my own no more. They’re gonna have to help me with gas. (Laughs)
HANA: That’s transportation beat reporter, Zain Iqbal. Thanks for keeping us up to speed on what’s happening!
ZAIN: Thanks, Hana!