Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The daily pain at the pump

It was just last Thursday and Friday that AAA first alerted us to the arrival of $4-a-gallon gas in the region.

This morning the agency continues the bad news on the gasoline front. They now report more than 100 gas stations are selling gas for more than $4 a gallon.

In the Philadelphia five-county) area, average gas prices sent up 1 cent overnight to $3.98, another all-time record high. Diesel also set another new high mark at $4.97 a gallon.

Don’t look for it to get better any time soon. AAA is not painting a rosy picture on this one.

“We expect that we’ve not see the worst, yet,” said Cathi Rossi, spokesperson for the auto club. Even with a slight dip in the price of a barrel of crude oil yesterday, below $127 a barrel, the pain at the pump is likely to continue. “It takes about four to six weeks for the price of crude oil to translate to prices at the pump,” Rossi added.

And it appears people may be getting the message. Traffic on the Delaware Memorial Bridge was down 5.6 percent this Memorial Day.

There is more evidence that people are getting out of their cars from SEPTA, where ridership is up, particuarly on the regional rail lines that ferry commuters from the suburbs in and out of the city.

SEPTA says ridership is up 5 percent. That equate to 13 million more trips from last year. On the regional rails, the increase amounts to an 11 percent boost, with 2.8 million more trips than last year.

If you’re still stuck in your car and looking for the best deal on gas prices, AAA has a full listing of what gas is selling for at gas stations across the region. To find the cheapest prices, Click Here.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home