Gas prices at the pump in Southern California are expected to remain high throughout this summer vacation season, pushed up by a rise in travel demand that began with a surge in road trips over the Memorial Day weekend, experts say.
The good news is that gas prices are not likely to spike to last year’s record-high levels, when a gallon of unleaded peaked at more than $6. “Usually when demand is up, gas prices go up,” said Anlleyn Venegas, spokesperson for the American Automobile Assn.
Warm temperatures and sunny skies during the summer usually encourage vacationers to drive more, and numbers from Memorial Day weekend indicate motorists may be just as willing to get behind the wheel as they were before the COVID-19 pandemic started, Venegas said. Prices spiked just before the Memorial Day weekend when 2.8 million Southern Californians traveled by car, a 6% increase over 2022.
That increase in demand is reflected in the cost of gasoline. According to AAA, the average cost of a gallon of regular in Southern California is currently $4.87, about a cent higher than on Tuesday, and 6 cents higher than a week earlier.In some parts of the state, the average cost of a gallon is nearing $5.
In the Los Angeles-Long Beach region, the average cost of a gallon of regular is $4.95, an increase of 7 cents from last week. In Ventura County, a gallon of regular will set you back $4.99. That’s a stark difference from the national average of $3.58 a gallon, a drop of 3 cents from a month earlier.
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