Get up and go this summer

Get up and go this summer

Low gas prices on Memorial Day a good sign for travelers

news@theeveningtimes.com

Time to load up the SUV, hitch up the boat or the camper, and head to the hills or out to a lake. Natural State residents love the outdoors and love to get away, and with the recent Memorial Day 3-day weekend serving as the unofficial kick-off for summer travel and leisure time, Arkansans will find their wallets a little fatter this year, as gasoline prices are at a five year low for this time of year.

The American Automobile Association projected more Memorial Day travelers this year than ever. The previous record was in 2005.

An estimated 38 million Americans traveled this past weekend, breaking the 11-year-old mark for the “first holiday of the sum- mer.”

According to the AAA, gas price news is a mixed bag. Despite the lowest prices in half a decade, the cost at the pump has rose 12 consecutive days to close the month of May.

National gas prices rose 15 cents last month, bringing prices at the pump to the highest in 2016, with the average price per gallon at $2.28.

Local motorists have it easier on the wallet than drivers nationally. A survey of local fuel prices found on Wednesday morning drive down Highway 77 and Missouri Street showed fuel prices ranging from $2.12 to $2.06.

That’s quite a welcome change, notes Patrick De-Haan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com, who reminded consumers that this time in 2011, the local average was $3.60 per gallon.

“The lowest gasoline prices in 11 years are greeting motorists hitting the road this summer,' said De-Haan. 'Not only gasoline prices, but diesel too. In fact, every single state in the nation is seeing lower gasoline and diesel prices than where we started summer last year — both of which currently average $2.32 per gallon. Going forward, much of the country will spend much of the summer in the low-to-mid ‘twos’ for both gasoline and diesel.”

Prices in the biggest cities: New York, Los Angeles and Chicago could break $3-per-gallon at some stations, he added. But the bigger the city, the more motorists stand to save by shopping for the lowest prices.

By John Rech