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ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins said rising fuel prices are beginning to drive up the cost of running the city's vehicle fleet, laying out the figures in a video posted to social media Friday — a question she first raised at the May 12 City Council meeting, where City Manager James Parajon said the city's fleet is weathering the increases relatively well.
The fleet ranges from school buses and police cars to fire trucks and vehicles for transportation and environmental services, Gaskins said. The question of how fuel costs affect those operations came up during Parajon's May State of the Economy update, a monthly briefing Gaskins said she asked the manager to begin last fall to keep the council informed on economic trends.
Citing figures from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, Gaskins said the average price of diesel rose from about $2.20 per gallon in April 2025 to roughly $4.29 in April 2026, an increase of more than 95%. Gasoline climbed from $2.07 to $3.55 a gallon over the same period, about 72%. Over the past five years, she said, the city's fuel use has averaged roughly 45% diesel and 55% gasoline.
Have you ever wondered how gas prices are impacting our city vehicles?  This is a topic that came up during our May State of the Economy Update.#alexandriava #mayorofalx #alyiaforalx #gasprices pic.twitter.com/HGUSKQwLKm
— Alyia Gaskins (@Alyia4ALX) May 29, 2026
In his presentation, Parajon tied the energy spike to the war with Iran, telling the council that inflation reached 3.8% in April — the highest in three years — driven largely by surging energy costs. Gasoline prices rose 28% and fuel oil 54% in April, he said. He put the national average gas price at $4.55 a gallon as of May 7, up about $1.40 from a year earlier and the highest level since 2022.
Asked directly by Gaskins how the city is tracking fuel spending for its police cars, fire trucks and other vehicles, Parajon said Alexandria is "in pretty good shape." The city has deliberately diversified its fleet with more hybrid and electric vehicles than many other jurisdictions, he said, and buys fuel in bulk, which helps on pricing. He offered to send the council a memo with more detail. That bulk-purchasing arrangement may help explain why the wholesale-oriented figures the city tracks run below retail pump prices.
Retail prices have since eased somewhat. As of Friday, AAA put Virginia's average regular gas at $4.245 a gallon and diesel at $5.396, with the Alexandria city average for regular at $4.441. Both were down from a week earlier — Virginia regular slipped from $4.431 and diesel from $5.530 — and the national average fell about 12 cents. AAA's home page carried the headline "Gas Prices are Falling." Even so, the figures remain well above year-ago levels across all three sources.
Fuel costs are billed to each operating department monthly, and the city has already seen some increases, Gaskins said in her video. She pointed to January and February, when departments heavily involved in snow response — such as recreation and transportation and environmental services — saw higher costs. The current pressure, she said, comes less from increased consumption than from the higher per-gallon prices.
The city built a fuel-reduction efficiency of about $590,000 into its fiscal 2027 budget, Gaskins said, citing the shift toward hybrid vehicles along with practices such as reducing idling and routing staff along the most fuel-efficient paths. Staff will continue to monitor prices as part of regular budget tracking, she said.
