BALTIMORE — As Baltimore residents continue to pay the price at the pump, both literally and figuratively, some took advantage of a rare opportunity on Friday – free public transportation.
From 5 a.m. to midnight, the Maryland Transit Administration offered complimentary rides throughout the city in honor of 410 Day, an annual celebration of Baltimore, with the Baltimore Orioles prominently sponsoring the event. While some residents were oblivious to the free transportation, others planned their day around it.
At the Lutherville-Timonium light rail station, a lone group of teenagers lounged in beach chairs beside their car, some with flip-flops on, casually playing yacht rock and enjoying the sunny day. On the platform, smooth jazz hummed through the intercom, only interrupted by the sounds of birds chirping.
The calm didn’t last. With each stop southbound, a flock of passengers squeezed onto the train until it was standing room only. By the time the tram reached the Convention Center stop – steps away from Oriole Park at Camden Yards – nearly everyone got off.
For many riders, the free trip offered a small, but welcomed reprieve from driving and the rising cost of gas.
“I hate driving down to the city, driving down the bars, it’s just stressful, and gas is expensive,” said Kera Leitkowski, who occasionally takes the light rail to attend Orioles games.
In Baltimore, gas prices have averaged above $4 per gallon since the beginning of April, according to statistics from the American Automobile Association. While the price of gas is still high, it’s far off from the all-time high average of $5 per gallon in June 2022.
“I’ve never seen gas prices this high since Covid,” said Riley Riebling, a Loyola University student, steadying herself as the light rail rattled along. “I can’t find a gas station that’s under $4.”
With the impact on gas prices still unknown after the United States and Iran reached a ceasefire agreement on Tuesday, Baltimoreans across the city say they’re still feeling the strain at the pump.
“It feels artificial to me,” is what Baltimore resident Karthik Kartha said when he looked up at the gas prices at a Shell station on Fleet Street that read $4.09 for regular gas and $4.99 for premium gas.
“You try and get around it by saying ‘If I just do a half tank now, maybe the prices will drop in a week,” Kartha said. “But they haven’t.”
Like most cities in the United States, driving is the primary means of transportation in Baltimore, a city where less than 15 percent of people use public transportation. Some residents are simply covering their eyes and pushing on due to the innate necessity of buying gas.
“I really don’t get upset about it, because I understand the why,” said Baltimore resident James Hartman. “I’m sure it impacts everybody, it impacts me and my bottom line, but we’re prepared for that kind of thing, we have contingencies in place.”
Since hostilities in Iran erupted in late February, gas and diesel prices both have increased by more than a dollar a gallon, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Hours before President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire, oil prices fell below $100 a barrel. But given the amount of infrastructure that has to be rebuilt in the Middle East, it will be some time before Americans see cheaper prices at the pump.
“The war could go on for a long time, there might be more damage, more difficulty,” said Josh Linn, an agriculture and natural resources professor at the University of Maryland. “Oil prices at any given time depend not just on what’s going on right now, but they also depend on expectations about the future.”
As the Trump administration floats threats of strikes and talks of peace in an effort to bring the conflict in the Middle East to an end, Baltimore residents play the waiting game, hoping gas prices don’t reach astronomical levels while also cutting back on leisure activities that they once freely enjoyed.
“I live in the city and I work in the city, so I can get by getting to and from work,” Kartha said. “But I see family less, places that I like to go to eat outside of the city [and] in the county, I go to less.”
Larry DiMattei, a Baltimore-based contractor and avid painter, said he’s also traveling less as gas prices remain steep.
“I don’t travel as much,” DiMattei said. “Today, if I was driving, if I had a little bit of gas left over, I’d fill up before going home … because you don’t know what tomorrow is gonna bring you.”
That same uncertainty is beginning to manifest in his work and hobby of painting. DiMattei said that he has noticed an increase in the price of paint since the conflict in Iran began.
According to Hardware Retailing, major paint manufacturers, including Sherwin-Williams and Pittsburgh Paints Co. have announced price increases of nearly 10 percent, effective May 1.
DiMattei suggested that Baltimore residents should be given a break in the form of no tax on gas for a period of time and extending the 7 hours of free transportation to a week instead.
“Help people out, because we’re all struggling, it would probably take the tension down of individuals helping one another as well,” DiMattei said. “It’s hard to help somebody when you can’t help yourself.”
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