‘We don’t know how we’re going to make it’: Rising gas prices impacting ride-share drivers

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — With gas prices going up, ride-share drivers say they’re having to consider other options to make money.

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Uber driver Christopher Occeas said every day the prices at the pump go up, he gets nervous. Having to use his car for work, is making it more difficult to make ends meet.

“Your own gas, you have to keep the car clean, the maintenance, all that,” he said. “But the gas prices on top.”

READ: Central Florida woman pays more than $8 a gallon at the pump

The average price for a gallon of regular gas went up 15 cents overnight, according to AAA. Drivers on average are now paying $4.15 a gallon, two cents cheaper than the national average.

Lawmakers are calling on President Joe Biden to allow us to drill for oil in the U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said he’s happy the president announced a ban on Russian oil because of Russia’s conflict with Ukraine.

READ: See where you can find Central Florida’s cheapest gas

Oil won’t be coming from the Florida coast anytime soon. There is a moratorium on offshore drilling in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina through June 2032.

Occeas said no matter how the lower prices come, he needs it to happen and fast before he has to look elsewhere for employment.

“We don’t know how we’re going to make it because (of) the gas prices.”

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Video: Florida gas prices climb to new records (Q McCray, WFTV.com)

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