Depressing new map shows how far $20 of gas gets you in LA after price hikes

Drive across town? In this economy?

A depressing new map reveals just how far Los Angeles drivers can go on $20 worth of gas today — and the results are beyond pathetic.

Using metro-area average pump prices mapped over the local road network, plus an average of 28 miles to the gallon, the confounding cartography reveals what commuters in stretched-to-the-limit SoCal already know — it’s expensive to get everywhere.

According to the map, drivers today can travel 29 fewer miles for the same $20 as they could on February 27 of this year — just before the start of the Iran war. That’s about from downtown LA to Long Beach.

The map was created by a crafty — and likely fed-up — commuter, who posted his findings to Reddit.

Visualizing the geographic, real world impact of the price hikes was the point of the exercise, the creator explained — noting that every driver’s mileage, quite literally, will vary.

Commenters debated about whether driver’s habits will change amid the rising cost of gas.

“Every time I see lifted trucks, speeding to red lights, all the insane behavior of LA drivers I have the same thought. Maybe it’s not expensive enough yet,” one observer wrote.

“I think we won’t see any changes to driving habits until stations begin rationing gasoline,” a second said.

“Gasoline prices can go over $9.99 and people won’t change stupid driving habits, mainly because they don’t realize that sitting in a drive-thru (instead of parking and waiting inside), going 65+, or flooring it to beat a red light eats more gas than they realize,” they moaned.

“My monthly gas is about to be the same price as my apartment I rented in college,” a third commenter exclaimed.

The pain at the pump for West Coasters has increased exponentially, of late —  with gas prices jumping 19 cents in just one week last week, which brought the California average for a gallon of regular to an astonishing $6.08.

In the last year statewide average gas prices have surged $1.43, while diesel has gone up $3.18 to a record $8.35 per gallon.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, told KRON4 that while gas prices could dip when California switches from its more expensive summer-blend gasoline to the winter blend at the end of October, prices could also rise again before then due to conflicts in the Middle East.

“It’s really more contingent on whether or not we’ll continue to see the pace of escalations that have contributed to the faster pace,” De Haan said.

“If there’s new … attacks, if there’s more escalations — then yes, prices could continue to accelerate at this pace.”

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters