The good and bad news about driving this Memorial Day weekend
Good news commuters: Gas will be (relatively) cheap this Memorial Day. But that’s going to mean more cars—and traffic—on the road, according to AAA.
Mary Maguire from AAA says although gas prices have risen in the past month, they’re still lower than a year ago. This will be the cheapest Memorial Day gas price in at least five years.
“We had seen sharp increases in recent weeks, but to see a trend heading in the other direction as people head out for the holiday weekend, it’s a wonderful thing,’’ Maguire told Boston.com. “Gas prices are far lower than this time last year, by a full dollar.’’
Jeff Pelton, a local analyst from GasBuddy.com, confirmed that prices are down $1.02 from last year. Summer usually means an increased demand in gas, he said, so prices may rise.
“We would expect that prices will push up another 2-4 cents by Memorial Day Weekend,’’ said Pelton. “But it should be a summer of cheaper gas.’’
Make sure you start your weekend early, though. Memorial Day weekend travel will be up 5.3 percent —an additional 33 million travelers—compared to last year, according to AAA. That’s the highest predicted volume in 10 years.
“We typically see more of a surge in travel in New England compared to nationally,’’ said Maguire. “We have so many destinations close at hand here, and with gas prices down, it’s very easy to travel to Cape Cod even for the day.’’
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