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DOMINANT IN THE CALIFORNIA MARKET EVEN THOUGH PRICES CONTINUE TO RISE. WITH GAS PRICES ON THE RISE SOME PEOPLE ARE LOOKING AT AVOIDING DRIVING ALTOGETHER. AT THIS LIGHT RAIL STATION IN SACRAMENTO TODAY, WE FOUND DOLLY WHO TOLD US THAT GASOLINE IS TOO EXPENSIVE. >> IF HE GETS TO FIVE DOLLARS AND THAT IS WHEN I WILL BE LIKE, I AM DONE DRIVING. MIKE: REGIONAL TRANSIT REPORTS MORE PEOPLE WRITING THE LIGHT- RAIL TRAINS SINCE THEY LOWERED FARES LAST OCTOBER. THEY HAVE SEEN A SPIKE OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS, WHICH COINCIDES WITH THE INCREASE OF THE PUMP. >> ANYTIME WE SEE A BIG JUMP IN GAS PRICES, OR IF GAS PRICES ARE OVER $4.50, WE SEE IN INCREASE IN WRITERS. -- RUIDERS. >> PROBABLY FIVE DOLLARS WOULD BE THAT. YOU CANNOT KEEP DRIVING AROUND IF IT’S OVER FIVE DOLLARS. MIKE: OTHER FACTORS INCLUDE A SPIKE IN OIL PRICES AT $64 A BARREL A DAY. YOU WILL SEE A SPIKE AT THE PUMP WITH A BUT -- A WIDE FRIDAY OF PRICES. >> A DOLLAR A GALLON, MEANING SOME STATIONS MAY BE A DOLLAR A GALLON, LESS OR MORE THAN A STATION DOWN THE STREET. THIS IS THE TIME I

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Gas prices are increasing nationwide, with an average price of $2.76 a gallon.But that’s nothing compared to California, where prices average $3.80 a gallon, the highest in five years. “Gas prices nationwide have jumped for the eighth straight week,” said Patrick DeHaan, a petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. “This is the longest streak of rising prices that we’ve had since 2015."And nowhere has the increase been more dramatic than in California, DeHaan said.Here are three things to know about the rising prices: What's causing the rise in prices at the pump? There are multiple factors at play, according to DeHaan. “A lot of what California is seeing is tied to unexpected refinery outages that have happened at the same time as normal maintenance is taking place,” DeHaan said. As a result, DeHaan said, “Supply is very tight, and to go along with it, the ethanol that is blended into much of the state’s gasoline is also difficult to source nowadays, due to Midwest floods that have shut down the rail lines throughout the nation’s midsections.”And that’s not all, because California is experiencing “kind of a trifecta here,” DeHaan told KCRA 3. “It’s a perfect storm of ethanol supply issues, refinery supply issues, not enough gasoline being produced and on top of that, we have the price of oil, which today hit $64 a barrel.”“That’s $21 higher than on Christmas,” DeHaan said. Will the problem get better or worse? Prices are likely to rise for the next three to six weeks, DeHaan said, until the refinery issues are resolved. He predicted there will be some relief in June as refineries kick into high gear with production, allowing prices to moderate. In the meantime, DeHaan expects prices in California to rise to an average of $4 as soon as next week. “That mark will be the highest level California has seen since 2014, and no other state in the country has seen a $4 average price in almost five years,” DeHaan said.What can I do to help beat the price hike? The best thing for drivers to do is shop around and compare prices. There is a huge gap between cheap and expensive stations, even in the same town.“In some areas of California it’s over one dollar a gallon,” DeHaan said.He said that means “some stations may be a dollar a gallon less, or more, than a station down the street, so this is a time that it’s so important for motorists to be shopping around for those low prices.”The other option is to look for alternative ways to get around. Some people are using Sacramento’s Regional Transit system to avoid paying higher gas prices.“What we’ve seen is: Any time we see a big jump in gas prices, or if gas prices go over $4.50, we definitely see an increase in ridership,” said Jessica Gonzalez, a spokesperson for RT.Dolly Mensah was riding RT on Monday and told KCRA 3, “If it gets to, let’s say $5 (a gallon), then maybe that would be, like, I’m done driving.”Alayna Aguilar works in downtown Sacramento, but KCRA 3 spotted her riding a Jump bike during her lunch break. She also indicated a potential tipping point for gas prices.“Yeah, probably $5 (a gallon) would be that,” Aguilar said. “You know, you can’t keep driving around if it’s over $5.”The California green vehicle market continues to grow dramatically. The sale of zero-emission vehicles, or ZEV, nearly doubled from 2017 to 2018, according to the California New Car Dealers Association. The most popular ZEV by far is the Tesla Model 3, with more than 51,000 vehicles sold in 2018, in figures released by the association.