GARY T. KUBOTA / GKUBOTA@STARBULLETIN.COM As shown on this gas station sign yesterday, the price of regular unleaded gasoline has jumped to more than $4 a gallon in Wailuku as well as other parts of Maui, including adjacent Kahului.

$4 gallon means Maui rates No. 1 in AAA gas report

WAILUKU » The average price of regular gasoline on Maui reached a record $4 a gallon yesterday.

Wailuku is the first area in the nation tracked by AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report to hit the $4 mark. In the remote coastal town of Hana, the price is about $4.55 a gallon.

Maui's average is up about a half-cent from Wednesday, 5.7 cents from a month ago and about 74 cents from a year ago.

At the Union 76 station on Lower Main Street in Wailuku, regular unleaded sold for $4.08 a gallon.

"I think it's crazy," said Mia Sado, a Wailuku resident, who wondered why fuel is cheaper on the Big Island and in Honolulu.

State worker Don Mitsuyuki said that although he gets partially reimbursed for mileage, the amount is not enough to cover expenses, and he has been watching how he uses his vehicle.

"I do less driving around," he said.

"It's ridiculous. It's crazy. But you have to do what you have to do," said Liz Javelosa.

Yesterday's statewide average for regular unleaded was $3.67 a gallon, a penny below the record high set in September 2005 just weeks after Hurricane Katrina disrupted the nation's oil supply. The state average also crept to within a penny of the record last weekend.

The national average price of gas climbed 1.4 cents overnight to a record of just less than $3.36 a gallon. California leads the nation with an average of $3.75. The Energy Department says the national average price could spike as high as $4 a gallon this summer.