patrick gregorio commuter "now i think i spent... probley... like a hundred per week." the national average price for a regular tank of gas is three dollars and eighty one cents. in california the state average is well above that mark close to four dollars and seventy cents a gallon. in contrast, it was about four seventeen last week prof. tom means/ sjsu economics "we have fewer refiners and we have fewer refiners making california gasoline. and we change blends between winter and summer. so it's a much more restrictive market some might say it's not as competitive." public transit is an alternative but senior rashi mirakhur says that isn't always practical. rashi mirakhur commuter "yes we do have other options like the vta, the buses, the train itself, but...it is inconvenient you know when we do look at the first transportation of getting to school is the car. it's convenient but expensive." historically gas prices have been lower in past years. it wasn't until recently that this began to change. tom means "now since 2000, the real prices started to creep up a little