Dale Fairclough
Staff Writer

Local gas prices remain amongst the highest in the nation, according to the price tracking website gasbuddy.com.

The average cost of regular unleaded in Santa Barbara County increased $.31 — from $3.80 to $4.11 per gallon — since the beginning of the month. The county average is currently $.52 higher than the national average of $3.59.

According to Janaye Culton, a second-year visual journalism major at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, the rising prices have altered her day-to-day schedule.

“I moved to Isla Vista thinking commuting would not be a big deal when gas was just over three dollars and now it is over four,” Culton said. “Because I commute so much I spend more time at my mom’s house, which is closer to campus. That way I do not have to drive as much.”

Stations with the highest prices per gallon of regular unleaded are the Mobil on the corner of Hollister Avenue and Turnpike Road at $4.29 and The Village Service Station in Santa Barbara at $4.35. Educated Car Wash on State Street and Hitchcock Way offers the county’s cheapest price at $3.84 per gallon.

Diesel prices have also risen. The most expensive station, Chevron at Coast Village Road and Coast Village Circle, tops off at $4.59 per gallon.