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Transportation economist expects gas prices to continue rising

Easy come, easy go. Gas prices are jumping higher across the Quad Cities, just as we had grown accustomed to weeks of falling prices at the pump. AAA says the a...

Easy come, easy go.

Gas prices are jumping higher across the Quad Cities, just as we had grown accustomed to weeks of falling prices at the pump.

AAA says the average price for regular, unleaded gasoline jumped nine cents in the Iowa Quad Cities.

On Thursday, February 5 the average price in places like Davenport and Bettendorf was $1.99 a gallon.  24 hours earlier it was $1.90 a gallon.  And last Thursday, January 29, the average was $1.80.

The rise is a bit slower in the Illinois Quad Cities.  The average was $2.09 a gallon on Thursday, February 5, $2.03 the day before, and $1.95 a week earlier.

"I just noticed it went up as I was coming to work," said motorist Kristy Phillipson while refilling the tank of her car in Moline. "I was liking it when it was really low."

"It's still a lot better than it used to be," said another motorist at the service station.

After hitting a six-year low, gas prices are rising as crude oil prices start to recover on the international markets.
In other words, it appears the party's over.

"I think the lows that we've seen are a little bit too low," says Dr. Greg Bereskin, a transportation economist from St. Ambrose University.

He says he expects prices to keep rising.

"It wouldn't surprise me if it ends up being around two, $2.50, somewhere in that range," he predicts.

But ask any driver, lower gas prices free up more spending.   Raise those prices and it's going to hurt.

"We're kinda worried about that," says Tiffany Mack, a Moline driver.

"My husband was laid off so it's tough, it's tough."

And it may be tough for lawmakers as well.

Iowa politicians have pushed the accelerator for a 10-cent hike in the state gas tax.

The first hike in the tax since 1989 could help bridge the funding gap for Iowa highway and bridge construction projects.

"The problem is our infrastructure actually aged faster than the money has come into repair it," says State Representative Linda Miller, a Bettendorf Republican.

"So we are at a point now we have to figure out some different sources of funding for the roads and bridges."

And if not the gas tax, what are the options?

The general fund is stretched thin, and new forms of taxation are controversial.

A vehicle mileage tax could be considered, but that would rely on a GPS device to record each mile you drive in your own car.

In the end, the price at the pump may determine what lawmakers do at the Capitol.

"There's a perfect argument: we're looking at the bridges and they're getting in bad shape and we want lives saved and we'd rather spend money up front rather than after people have died," says Dr. Bereskin.

It may be life or death, but it's also dollars and cents.

"You budget for a set amount and when that's gone, that's gone," says Mack.

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