Travel expected to increase over Fourth of July weekend despite gas prices
With Independence Day around the corner, summer travel shows no signs of slowing down — despite high gas prices.
AAA predicts 47.9 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home over the holiday weekend, a 3.7% increase from 2021.
“What we are projecting at AAA is pre-pandemic levels of travel,” said AAA Spokesperson Jim Garrity. “On the road, it could be a record-setting amount of people despite gasoline prices on the nationwide level being up about $1.80 more than this time last year.”
AAA estimates 42 million of the 49 million expected to travel this weekend will be doing so by hitting the road.
“They want to get back to making those memories,” Garrity said. “In about February, consumers indicated that they would make changes in their day-to-day habits trying to save money at the pump so they still could prioritize things like leisure travel.”
Garrity explained the demand for gasoline has been slightly lower aside from Memorial Day travel and what's expected over Fourth of July weekend.
“Consumers might be limiting how much they drive, which obviously is the best way to save gas,” Garrity said.
Sheetz has announced that it is aiming to alleviate some pain at the pump, offering discounted gas with a limited time promotion through now and July 4 at all of their locations across six states.
But before people go running to the pump, they should know this discount is only for E15 or what Sheetz calls unleaded 88, and E85 gasoline, which might not be suitable for all vehicles.
“The Environmental Protection Agency claims unleaded 88 can go in anything 2001 and later,” Dave Spithaler, a shop foreman at Diehl Automotive in Butler said. ”But, for example, I checked a 2014 FJ Cruiser which stated on the fuel cap, ‘no E15.’“
Flex Fuel vehicles are the main target for unleaded 88, but E85 might not be worth the purchase with its fuel economy.
“Unleaded 88, it’s 4 to 5% less fuel economy than ethanol free gasoline,” Spithaler said. “That means it’s only 1 to 2% less than the regular unleaded. E85 you can lose 25 to 30% fuel economy.”
Sheetz is offering unleaded 88 at $3.99 per gallon, while E85 will cost $3.49 per gallon.
“It's going to be different vehicle by vehicle,” Garrity said. “Before putting any fuel in you vehicle, you should make sure you're doing what the manufacturer recommends. That's all clearly spelled out in owner’s manuals. The owner’s manual is the consumers best friend in a lot of ways.”
Unleaded 88 contains up to 15% ethanol Spithaler said, with E85 anywhere between 51 to 85% and regular unleaded would be no more than 10%.
Although legislation has yet to be introduced, President Joe Biden has spoken about the idea of a three-month federal gas tax holiday.
“The theory is the gas tax being temporarily halted would result in about an 18 cent decrease per gallon at the pump,” Garrity said. “If you combine state and federal taxes, that's about 15 percent roughly speaking of what you pay at the pump.”
High crude oil prices remain the biggest factor in gasoline prices, according to Garrity.
“Crude oil would have to really come down for consumers to see any major decreases at the pump,” Garrity said. “Crude is about 60 percent what you pay at the pump.”
On Thursday afternoon, the national average for regular gasoline was $4.85 per gallon according to AAA. The average price in Pennsylvania was $4.93 per gallon for regular, while Butler County was slightly higher at $4.97.
