Canberra Fuel Prices Spark Emergency Calls

0:00It's March 26th. I'm Cory with the story, and this is Sydney News today. Local news powered by AI. Rising fuel prices in Canberra are sparking a big jump in calls for emergency help from families and charities. The same Vincent the Paul Society reports more first-time requests than at any point since COVID-19, mainly for basics like getting kids to school, heading to work or medical visits, prices hit 254.9 cents per liter for unleaded 91 petrol and 315.9 cents for diesel last. Thursday, fueled by the Iran conflict, pushing up global oil costs. Families say everyday drives are now too expensive, while small cleaning and gardening businesses face huge squeezes with fuel costs up as much as 40% in some cases, many owners hesitate to raise customer prices for fear of losing business. To cope, businesses are bunching jobs closer together to cut travel, and charities running fleets worry about their own rising bills from programs, like night patrols that log 35,000

1:05kilometers a year. Meanwhile, canbearans are shifting to public transport, with bus and light rail trips reaching 393,300 last. Week, the highest so far this year, as affordable fares help ease the strain.