DALLAS — Gas prices keep going up, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight, at least not now.
While we've seen prices eclipse $4 per gallon at some locations in North Texas, the average in Dallas on Tuesday was $3.89, according to AAA Texas.
And if you track gas prices on WFAA.com, you'll see some of the cheaper options range from $3.25 to $3.64, via GasBuddy.
Either way, we're paying for it at the pump, along with everywhere else. But what is the actual cost impacting North Texas drivers? And how does that translate to your daily commute?
Our WFAA Daybreak team dove into these numbers on Wednesday morning's show, attempting to give a snapshot of what a typical commute might cost - and if you can save much by taking public transportation.
Here's what we found:
- For starters, let's say you live in central Plano and have to commute to downtown, and your car gets about 25 miles per gallon.
- You have a couple route options: U.S. 75 will get you downtown in about 24 miles, and will take 25-50 minutes, depending on traffic; and the Dallas North Tollway will get you downtown in about 21 miles in roughly the same time, again depending on traffic.
- So how does that calculate to your gas cost? If you take U.S. 75, it would be around $3.73, and the Tollway will get you at around $3.27. Both of those figures are one way.
- But there's a catch! You might save a little time and gas money on the Tollway, but you'll also have to pay around $4.10 in tolls, for a total of $7.37 one way.
- DART could be an option, too, depending on where you live. In Plano, for example, you can take the Orange or Red lines from downtown Plano to downtown Dallas in about 49 minutes. A DART day pass costs $6 -- that's $3 each way, not counting the gas it takes to drive to the DART station.
- One more thing to consider: DART offers free parking at its rail stations, and your employer may offer discounted DART passes. Also, a monthly pass starts at $96, which comes out to around $4.80 for 20 workdays in a month.