In Nova Scotia and other maritime provinces, the price of gas has hit an all-time high at almost two dollars. The skyrocketed cost has shocked and concerned people in the province, raising worries about how it could complicate affordability and necessary travel.
Among others, this especially concerns university and college students who have to commute to school, who have to make extra time to work on top of their studies, and the students who also have to afford their rent, bills, and other utilities, as well as groceries. For students who drive, the increased gas costs are a new source of stress.
Alicia, a student attending Acadia talks about the travel between university and home, and how while she does not live far away, the rising cost has still made an impact on her day-to-day life: “As a student who lives off campus and has to travel to and from classes, the cost of gas being so incredibly high is making a huge impact on me financially.” She said, “As a part-time student that also works part-time I have to budget my money strategically. The intense spike in gas prices gives me little to no money left in my wallet for basic necessities or spending money to go out and do things with friends and family.” This seems to be common among students: for some students the amount of money they have to spend to fill up their vehicle takes from other costs that they have in their lives.
Kegan, another student, one who lives in Wolfville, but attends Nova Scotia Community College in Kentville has to drive to school. While the distance isn’t too far, the drive there and back can empty the gas tank quickly, and because the cost of gas is higher than it used to be, twenty dollars doesn’t fill the tank like it used to: “It impacts my commute to school, by having to balance my budget just to be able to drive to school.” While he knows gas is an essential for his everyday life, he can’t help but be stressed like a lot of students about the costs of living, “I mean regardless I’m going to have to get gas, but it stresses me out knowing that the extra money I now have to spend on gas is coming out of my budget for something else. I put forty dollars in my tank this morning and it only gave me half. A full tank at least used to cost fifty to sixty dollars, but now it’s around eighty to one hundred”.
At the price of 175.3 in the Wolfville area and similar in other places, students and other community members are worried that eventually it’ll reach past two dollars, and at that point would be the highest gas price Nova Scotia has ever seen. Even if there are predictions of drops in the price for the next little while, people all around think that it won’t last. This causes high stress due to the already high cost of living in Nova Scotia.
Someone should let Kegan know there’s a bus that travels between wolfville and kentville.