Kelowna

With prices as high as $1.36.9 for a litre of regular gasoline in the Okanagan Saturday morning, motorists are frustrated and angry as the cost of getting around goes up and up.

"It raised three cents overnight and it's just shocking," says Margret Ruf.

Photo: Grant Scott

David Church says he's never paid so much for gas before.

Like many other drivers Castanet spoke with, Ruf admits she is resigned to having to pay the higher prices.

"There's nothing you can do. We need to drive and so we have to pay for it."

A recent poll on Castanet overwhelmingly reflected the frustration Okanagan drivers are feeling.

Almost 92 percent said they were feeling angry or gouged when they gas up.

On the other hand, only 3.5 percent were happy with the prices, feeling the cost may force people to find greener alternatives to get around.

David Church is also feeling the pinch.

"I don't believe I've ever paid this much before, so it's a personal record for me. I'm from the prairies and it seems that gas trades at a premium here. I marvel at how quickly it goes up when there's some little jiggle on the world political stage and how slowly it goes down. That takes months, but it goes up over night."

Church added the only way to beat the high prices is to drive less and share more, something he says he'll now try to do more.

Other drivers are also frustrated with how prices are set.

"I wish it made sense with the price per barrel and the price per litre," says Robert Nicholson. "It's just a made up price that comes out of nowhere. It doesn't make sense with the market value at all."

Photo: Grant Scott

Motorists complain the price of gas in the Okanagan is just too high.

Nicholson drives a semi for a living, so driving less is simply not an option.

"I pay a $1.30 a litre for 800 litres and it almost bankrupts me. Now almost all of my profits are gone, I'm spending it on fuel."

He also points to a lack of competition as another problem.

"You go to the (United) States, you can go one block down and it's a whole different price. Here, one goes up and they all go up, which is wrong."

For motorists commuting to work five days a week, there's no escaping the increased costs either.

"It costs so much just to go to work." says Michel Deespres. "I think the gas prices are just outrageous. It doesn't matter where you are right now, it's way too high."

By Saturday afternoon, prices were starting to drop back down to around $1.33.9, but still not enough to ease the pain in the wallet many Okanagan motorists are feeling, especially with prices in other parts of the country as much as 15 cents a litre cheaper.

It's also small consolation that Kelowna is not the most expensive either.

Drivers in Montreal were paying as much as $1.44.9 when they gassed up on Saturday.