Texas gas prices rose for a third straight week, with AAA reporting a statewide average of $3.58 a gallon as drivers cut back and hunt for cheaper pumps.

DALLAS, Texas — Spring break travelers coming home to Texas may be in for sticker shock at the pump after gas prices climbed for a third straight week.

AAA Texas says the statewide average is now $3.58 a gallon, up 32 cents from last week, as higher oil prices continue to push fuel costs higher.

“Oil prices are still near $100 a barrel, compared to less than $70 a barrel when the conflict in the Middle East began at the end of February, and that has been pushing up pump prices by about three to four cents a day nationally and statewide,” AAA Texas spokesperson Anlleyn Venegas said.

For some drivers, the rising cost is already forcing changes at home.

“This is unheard of,” driver Matthew Dixon said. “There’s a lot of cutting back going on in my household,” he said.

Another driver said the increase leaves people with few options.

“To me it’s ridiculous, but at the same time, there’s nothing I can do about it,” a motorcyclist said.

Others said higher gas prices are cutting into the things they would normally enjoy.

“You do less of the fun things you would like to do, of course,” driver LaJuana Edwards said.

One driver summed it up this way: “Stay home. Work. Go home.”

Even so, prices can vary widely from station to station.

At a gas station in Fair Park that recently reopened under new ownership after sitting vacant for months, gas was selling for $3.39 a gallon — well below the state average. About two miles away in Uptown, gas at another station was priced at $4.99 a gallon.

Venegas said that kind of gap is why drivers should compare prices before filling up.

“That’s why it’s so important for drivers to shop around for the cheapest gas,” she said. “They can use so many different tools. They can use any mapping or navigation app or platform.”

For at least one North Texas dad, the answer was simple: drive less.

“Just stay at home and work as much overtime as you can,” he said. And as for that big spring break road trip, maybe next year.