Why are Pittsburgh's Gas Prices Still so High? (Oakmont, Liberty: 2014, neighborhoods)

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by aw_now_what

High gas prices have contributed to the increased popularity of living near Downtown and Oakland, hence the "East End Housing Crisis."

Service station owners in the East End colluding to gouge consumers in the East End because they presume we're all more affluent can also be a plausible explanation for the above-average pricing. I'd like to think more highly of humanity, but I've been burned a lot already in life so that trusting others to do the right thing other than cling to avarice becomes difficult.

Unrelated, I've come off my "East End Housing Crisis" soap box. If the East End becoming reserved for only the rich and famous in the coming years means the rest of we working-class saps moving to other parts of the city and making them better (i.e. Brookline, Troy Hill, Beechview, Brighton Heights, Arlington, etc.), then that's better for the city overall.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by sealie

There may be some price gouging but I find it hard to believe the whole region is capable of that extent of collusion. That is a lot of independent operators.

I wouldn't think you need collusion to get higher prices in the city than in the 'burbs. In the suburbs, you have more drivers who cover lots of ground in a day. They'll pass several gas stations as they carry out other activities. No station that wants their business can charge more than the others. In the city, there are more people who don't drive very far and don't drive out of the city often. They aren't exactly a captive market, but they are going to be less able to shop around for cheaper gas. To save $3 on a tank of gas, I'd have to make a special trip that would waste more than $3 in time and gas.

Anyway, that's my guess. That city gas stations decided they'd rather get a higher margin on what they do sell even if it means that suburban commuters will fill-up elsewhere.

[SteelCityRising]

I've also thought that GetGo might establish a higher peer benchmark for local pricing, and they might adjust their pricing upwards so that when you save money on gas with your FuelPerks you think you're "saving" money when you're really not when you factor in the above-average gas prices you're starting with and the above-average grocery prices you paid to get your gas back down to average pricing.

[sealie]

I'm seeing 3.13 in O'Hara, Verona, and Oakmont, if GasBuddy is to be believed.

[UKyank]

Isn't the simplest explanation because people will pay that price

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

I wouldn't think you need collusion to get higher prices in the city than in the 'burbs. In the suburbs, you have more drivers who cover lots of ground in a day. They'll pass several gas stations as they carry out other activities. No station that wants their business can charge more than the others. In the city, there are more people who don't drive very far and don't drive out of the city often. They aren't exactly a captive market, but they are going to be less able to shop around for cheaper gas. To save $3 on a tank of gas, I'd have to make a special trip that would waste more than $3 in time and gas.

Anyway, that's my guess. That city gas stations decided they'd rather get a higher margin on what they do sell even if it means that suburban commuters will fill-up elsewhere.

Also very logical thinking on your part. Admittedly as a city-dweller I'm not going to spend $3 in gas round-trip to travel to an outlying area to fill up my tank (on "principle") in order to save $2 filling up my tank by not paying the inflated gas prices in the city whereas the soccer mom in the Honda Pilot who commutes from Murrysville to Oakland will more than happily just pass by every $3.40/gallon service station in the city on her way home from work and instead pay $3.20/gallon in Westmoreland County when she gets closer to home.

I guess we just need to chalk this up as just another contributing factor towards the higher cost-of-living of urban living.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by sealie

I'm seeing 3.13 in O'Hara, Verona, and Oakmont, if GasBuddy is to be believed.

This further befuddles me then since those places are all well within Allegheny County's boundaries. Why would gas prices be $0.25/gallon cheaper, on average, in the inner suburbs than in the city proper? Why doesn't a local media outlet do some investigative reporting on this? It would make for a great story, as I'm sure I'm not the only one tiring of paying not only higher rent, higher car insurance, and higher everything else to live in the city but ALSO higher gas prices for apparently no other reason than collusion, possibly originating with GetGo. A more appropriate comparison? What's the current price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline at the Shadyside GetGo vs. the Harmar Township GetGo or even the O'Hara Township GetGo, just several miles away---but outside city limits? If it's considerably higher, then we know Giant Eagle is just gouging city residents, and they should be publicly-shamed for this.

Originally Posted by UKyank

Isn't the simplest explanation because people will pay that price

People will pay it when they have no other choice. It's neither a quick nor easy jaunt to a "cheap" gas station miles outside the city. Then again if this is the case then why don't rural service stations with limited nearby competition charge $3.40/gallon under that same logic of "that's the price people here HAVE to pay..."?

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

People will pay it when they have no other choice. It's neither a quick nor easy jaunt to a "cheap" gas station miles outside the city. Then again if this is the case then why don't rural service stations with limited nearby competition charge $3.40/gallon under that same logic of "that's the price people here HAVE to pay..."?

In my experience, which isn't recent or in the this state, they do charge quite a bit more if there are no other stations in the town.

[doo dah]

How much is gas at that station on Fifth, across from the plasma center? "Last gas before downtown"? This site says $3.96 for regular.

Why is it that gas prices are higher in low-income areas? Well, I know, actually.

[sealie]

SCR, why don't you google first and confirm that no local media outlet has done investigative reporting on this?
I didn't say a thing about them being .25 cheaper on average. I gave you the outliers. The price is settling around 3.30 for the most part.