Some Honolulu taxi-cab drivers feel like they are being taken for a ride.

Higher gasoline prices are pinching how much drivers make because rates they charge are fixed by the city. That's causing some of them to work more hours to make up for as much as $100 more a week in spending at the pump, cab companies said.

Some cabs are cutting the amount of "cruising" they do looking for fares, choosing instead to park while waiting for dispatchers to radio them with work.

"It's not like they can all of a sudden add a surcharge because the prices went up last week," said Conrad Kahaialii, dispatcher for Akamai Cab Co. "The average driver is really suffering right now."

Honolulu gasoline prices are edging downward after hitting a peak of $3.59 for a gallon of regular on Sept. 19. The state still has the highest gasoline prices in the nation, with AAA reporting Friday that prices were averaging $3.24 a gallon in Honolulu. That's up 41 percent from a year earlier.

"This is really a roller coaster," said Dale Evans, president of Charley's Taxi, which has about 300 drivers. "The drivers are having to work harder or longer to make up that loss."

Evans has proposed a fuel surcharge of up to 60 cents a trip to the City and County of Honolulu, which regulates cab rates. She has also lobbied City Council members and been to the state Consumer Advocate and the state Public Utilities Commission to see if anything can be done.

Some drivers said they are able to absorb the gasoline price increases for now, though they might make service changes if pump prices spiked higher. Prices of $5 a gallon or higher might lead to some service cutbacks, said Hamilton Cupper, who owns and operates Pete's Taxi in 'Aiea.

He said at that level he'd have to examine whether it was profitable to travel several miles to pick up a fare who was traveling less than a mile.

For now, "it's like any other business — you deal with it," Cupper said.

Elsewhere, increases in fuel costs have made it more important to drive efficiently, said Gary Bulow of Coast Taxi in Kailua. He said he doesn't quickly accelerate or drive fast, to get the best mileage out of his Lincoln Town Car.

Evans said many drivers blame the state's wholesale gasoline price cap law that went into effect Sept. 1 for the higher pump expenses. She said taxi drivers have come in asking for copies of a list she keeps of legislators who voted for the law.

"Drivers are caught in the middle because our prices are artificially fixed," Evans said. Legislators "are doing price control without knowing what they're doing."

The state is assessing how the gasoline price cap, the only one of its kind in the nation, is working and will later make a report to the Legislature and governor. The law was enacted after years of criticism by consumers and government officials that Hawai'i's gas prices have remained high at times when prices on the Mainland fell.

The law sets a wholesale price limit based on markets in New York, the Gulf Coast and Los Angeles. There is no cap for retail prices.

House Majority Leader Marcus Oshiro, D-39th (Wahiawa), said in an e-mail that Hawai'i's prices probably would have been higher without the gas cap. He said the high cost of gasoline was caused by the impact of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

"Now that prices are falling on the Mainland, Hawai'i prices are falling in sync," Oshiro wrote.

The House Minority Caucus has contended that Hawai'i's prices would have been lower without the price cap.

Reach Greg Wiles at gwiles@honoluluadvertiser.com.