LYNN – The mood at gas stations was grim on Friday as locals cringe over gas prices that are only expected to continue to rise.Lynnway Shell employee Mike McSharry said customers are becoming increasingly frustrated, and looking for some explanation for the growing cost. “People complain like I have some control over it,” McSharry explained.Over the past week gas prices have skyrocketed across the nation, costing Massachusetts drivers an average of $3.42 a gallon on Friday. According to AAA, that?s a 16cent increase from just a week ago, and 5 cents more than on Thursday. At the Lynnway Shell on Friday, the cost of unleaded regular was $3.51 a gallon.Like many others who commute to and from the North Shore, Lynnway Shell customer Bud Gendron of Hampstead NH said he drives for a living, and therefore doesn?t have much of a choice. While Gendron doesn?t blame McSharry for the high costs, he does hold those in Washington somewhat accountable.?If the government would wake up and raise the price of food that we send all over the world, then I think we?d see the price of gas go back down very quickly,” Gendron said. “You see them out there changing the prices four times a day for gas that?s already been purchased. How does that happen?”Another traveler Kelsey Barrasso commutes to St. Mary?s for school. She said it only takes her 10 minutes to get there, but it?s still expensive for a cash-strapped high school student. To alleviate the burden, Barrasso and her friends rely greatly on carpooling. “There?s a big difference now,” she explained. “Twenty bucks doesn?t fill up half as much as it used to.”Paul Rogers also made a pit stop at Shell Lynnway to fill up, but said he plans to drive less. “I?m actually on my way to go catch the train,” Rogers said. “That?s what you do when gas prices go up.”At Mobile in Swampscott, gas prices on Friday were slightly lower at $3.38 a gallon. Driving a ?97 Ford F250 with not one, but two gas tanks, Sam Snow of Marblehead stopped to take advantage of the bargain. He said it used to cost him $80 to fill up both tanks, but now it?s up to $60 to fill just one. Like Barrasso, Snow and his friends have started carpooling more, using his truck only as a last resort. “Normally I?m not the only doing the driving because my truck uses so much gas.”Another Swampscott Mobile customer Charles Gibbons said he plans to combined trips and eliminate unnecessary driving when possible, but that it?s a difficult task. He also expressed concern about the larger consequences impacting more than just his wallet.?It?s getting a little bit crazy,” Gibbons said. “The economy is finally coming back and I?m afraid that this is going to hurt it.”Others like Cara Wall of Marblehead have chosen to ignore the rising prices since there?s not much that can be done to avoid them.?Honestly, I don?t pay attention to it,” Wall explained. “You need gas either way.”Wall did add, though, that a lot of people in her Friday morning yoga class were ventingabout the prices.?One woman told me that she drove by a gas station in Newburyport, and when she drove past it again two and a half hours later, it had increased by 20 cents,” Wall explained.