The CNN.com headline is becoming familiar: “Oil Prices Surge Again,” “$66 a Barrel,” “Gas Prices Jump,” ad nauseum. Prices aren’t going to go back to $2.00; this isn’t a temporary price hike. The era of cheap oil is coming to an end becuause we’re running out of places where oil spurts forth from the ground like fizz from a well-shaken soda can. But that’s an entirely different topic than the one I’m writing about now.

I moved to D.C. in the beginning of April. For several months prior, I was living in San Diego, commuting daily in my trusty ‘97 Ford Explorer XLT with V8 engine. Via Google Maps, my daily commute along I-5 was 20.8 miles combined. My 21-gallon-tank SUV gets about 14 miles to the gallon, so I used up about 1.5 gallons of fuel per day.

Now, looking over at SanDiegoGasPrices.com, my favorite Arco gas station is currently selling regular unleaded gasoline for $2.63, ten cents below the city average of $2.73. If I was still at my last job, I’d be paying $3.95 daily to drive 20 miles. San Diego historically has the highest gas prices in the nation; imagine people driving 50 miles from Oceanside to downtown, or the two-hour commute from Riverside.

My metro commute from Potomac Avenue (Orange/Blue) to Takoma (Red) costs me, at most, $2.50 daily. I save at least $1.45 via this commute. Multiplied that over the average 22 work days in a month, that makes out to $31.90, or $382.80 a year. This savings is on top of the fact that I no longer pay for the car upkeep, like oil changes, insurance payments, or mechanical breakdowns.

Hmm, that should buy me a four-day cruise to Bermuda or something.