By Helen Coster and Rich McKay
NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) - Mali Hightower's answer to high gas prices is a toy he fished out of someone's trash.
The 30-year-old handyman from Ellenwood, Georgia stuck a two-gallon, one-piston engine from a power washer into a broken pink Power Wheels Barbie Dream Camper - a battery-operated toy car less than four feet tall. One pull of the lawnmower-like rip cord and he's off to the supermarket, knees at his ears, dirtbike helmet on his head.
His real car, a 1996 Mercedes-Benz
convertible, costs about $90 to fill. "That's too much," said Hightower, who also installed a rack on top for groceries. "I drive this when I can."
His solution may be unusual, but the soaring cost of gasoline is reshaping everyday decisions and inspiring creative workarounds in households across the country. Long enamored with their cars, particularly less fuel-efficient SUVs and light trucks, Americans are seeking alternatives like public transit or staying close to home.
As of May 18, Americans paid an average of $4.52 a gallon for regular gasoline, up from around $3 before the Iran war started, according to AAA. In an April 28 Ipsos poll published by the Washington Post and ABC News, 44% of Americans said they had cut back on driving.
Some are finding opportunities in the economic pain. After spending nearly $40 more than usual to fill up her Buick Enclave, Renee Tocci, executive director of Camp Farley in Mashpee, Massachusetts, had an idea: pitch sleep-away camp as a cost-saving measure for parents spending a fortune schlepping their kids around all summer.
“My colleague was like, 'That is hysterical,'” Tocci said. “And I was like, seriously, I’m going to put it all over social media." She began referencing fuel costs online and in marketing emails to boost enrollment.
“Here’s a budgeting tip no one talks about: Send your kids to overnight camp," reads one of her posts.
'EVERY WALK OF LIFE'
Content creator Dafne Flores drives to Los Angeles from her home in Silverdale, Washington, several times a year to visit friends. During her most recent two-month stay, she parked in Glendale and switched to public transit to get around.
“We’re used to expensive gas prices, but never this expensive,” said Flores, 28.
Filling her Toyota Highlander now costs at least $95, so she's keeping drives within five miles and avoiding stations near freeways, where she has seen prices approach $9 a gallon.
On the bus, she can edit videos and avoid parking costs. Online, Flores says, more Americans her age are talking about similar choices: "I’m seeing a lot of videos of people taking the bus.”
The trend is evident from coast to coast. In Maine, ridership on Bangor’s public bus system has risen 21% since January, said transit administrator Laurie Linscott, with most growth during peak commuting hours.
“I started watching people and trying to get some kind of demographic,” said Linscott. “It was every walk of life.”
GAS CARD GIVEAWAYS
On a recent Thursday, drivers waited more than an hour at a gas station in El Segundo, California, where tourism agency Visit Las Vegas was offering up to $100 in gas to the first 100 drivers in line to encourage travel to the city.
But few who showed up were thinking about vacationing.
Robert Jackson of El Segundo said the fuel would only last a few days. "I have to walk and take the train now," he said. "It’s tough. It really is.”
Segette Frank of Los Angeles said she used to go shopping across the sprawling city. "I stay close now because I don’t want to run out of gas,” she said.
In Chicago, CityPoint Community Church plans to give away $5,000 worth of $25 gas cards in the coming weeks. Pastor Demetrius Davis said they distributed more than 70 cards after Mother’s Day services.
"Transportation is not a luxury for many families," he said. "It’s survival."
So far, the crunch has not caused a surge in electric vehicle purchases, but it has vindicated current EV drivers, particularly Tesla owners who found themselves swept up in last year's political backlash against CEO Elon Musk.
John Stringer, president of Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley, a group of Tesla enthusiasts, recently posted a TikTok video showing a gas station sign with sky-high prices.
“Oh man, wish that was a problem that I had to deal with,” Stringer says cheekily, before turning the camera toward his Cybertruck.
While meant as a joke, Stringer said his relief is real.
“I don’t know the last time I looked at gas prices, except for that video.”
(Reporting by Helen Coster in New York and Rich McKay in Atlanta. Additional reporting by Jack Ferry and Elizabeth Mendez in Los Angeles. Editing by Jesse Mesner-Hage and David Gaffen)
