Summer drivers face rising gas costs
Published 9:55 pm Tuesday, May 1, 2018
- Drivers face rising gas prices at Sunoco Gas Station on Godwin Boulevard and elsewhere throughout Hampton Roads as people prepare their summer travel plans.
By the end of April, gas prices across Virginia were more expensive on average than they have been in several years, the American Automobile Association of Tidewater Virginia announced on Monday.
The average price for regular gas at Virginia pumps on Monday was $2.62 per gallon, a price unreached since December 2014. But it’s still not as bad as when unleaded gasoline cost $3.51 per gallon in April 2014, per the press release.
The national average hit $2.81 on Monday, the highest price per gallon since November 2014. The Hampton Roads average on Monday was $2.62, which is six cents more than last week and 45 cents higher compared to last year.
The increases will be felt as millions of Americans prepare to travel for summer vacation, and about 64 percent of them will be on the road for those family trips, according to AAA Tidewater.
“Motorists have been spoiled the past few years with inexpensive gas prices,” AAA Tidewater Virginia Spokesperson Georjeane Blumling stated in the press release. “We expect prices to continue increasing, potentially another 10 cents, through Memorial Day and then will likely stabilize during the summer, with the understanding that if demand spikes, prices are likely to follow.”
Gasbuddy.com on Tuesday recorded prices at Suffolk pumps that ranged from $2.53 to $2.66, a slight increase compared to the $2.48 to $2.63 per gallon range recorded on April 18.