Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Gas prices remain highest in four years
As millions of Americans gas up their cars and take to the roads for their Thanksgiving Day holiday, they will pay more for gas during the holiday period than they have in four years.
According to GasBuddy, prices at the pump have dropped an average of 25 cents per gallon nationally since the start of October. Despite the drops, gas prices remain at the highest level since 2014.
GasBuddy — a source for crowdsourced, real-time fuel prices — projects the national average gas price this Thanksgiving will be $2.57 per gallon. Last year, the average price per gallon was $2.53.
The last Thanksgiving Day with more expensive gas prices was in 2014 — when the national average was $2.79 per gallon. The Thanksgiving Day holiday period is defined as Wednesday, Nov. 21 through Sunday, Nov. 25.
“While gas prices have dropped in the last month, we’ll be paying nearly $80 million more over the travel period as a country than we did last year. Conversely, we’ll be spending $1.7 billion less than what we spent at the pump during the 2012 Thanksgiving travel period,” Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy said in a press release. “With gas prices decreasing in nearly every city every day since mid-October, travelers should be shopping around to find the stations that have passed along the big savings.”
Although prices are higher than previous years, seasonal de-
clines have now hit every state in the country and may accelerate in the days leading into Thanksgiving, according to GasBuddy. Gas prices in eight states have dropped to $1.99 per gallon or less.
According to AAA MidAtlantic, Monday’s national average price for a gallon of gas was $2.63, down 2 cents from Friday and down 8 cents in the last week.
According to AAA Mid-Atlantic, Monday’s national average price for a gallon of gas was $2.63, down 2 cents from Friday and down 8 cents in the last week. Across the Philadelphia five-county region, AAA-MidAtlantic reports gas prices on Monday averaged $2.78 per gallon, down 7 cents in the last week.
Across the Philadelphia five-county region, AAAMid-Atlantic reports gas prices on Monday averaged $2.78 per gallon, down 7 cents in the last week.
GasBuddy’s Annual Holiday Travel Survey found that 32 percent of participants said high gas prices were impacting their travel plans, with a 15 percent decrease of travelers on the road expected for Thanksgiving compared to 2017.
Meanwhile, AAA MidAtlantic is estimating a record number of people will be traveling during the holiday — both nationally and across the Philadelphia five county region. AAA predicts 54.3 million people will travel nationally, an increase of 4.8 percent over last year, the tenth year for Thanksgiving travel growth.
Regionally, AAA Mid-Atlantic estimates 650,000 Philadelphia area residents will travel 50 miles or more away from home for the holiday — a 5 percent increase over 2017. Most of those travelers will be getting to their holiday destination by car, according to the agency.
GasBuddy is a source for crowdsourced, real-time fuel prices at more than 150,000 gas station convenience stores in the U.S., Canada and Australia. Millions of drivers use the GasBuddy app and website to find gas station convenience stores based on fuel prices, location and ratings/reviews. For more information, visit www.gasbuddy. com.
AAA provides automotive, travel, and insurance services to 59 million members nationwide.
For more information, visit www.AAA.com.
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