Gas prices down a penny; holiday travel to be up slightly

AAA Southern New England’s weekly survey of gasoline prices in Rhode Island showed the price of gasoline had fallen one cent from last week. However, the impact of Hurricane Katrina is expected to be felt almost immediately with increases in both the prices of oil and gasoline.

AAA will conduct another survey of gas prices of Wednesday to gauge the immediate impact of the storm wreaking havoc on the south.

The penny decrease from last week to the average price of $2.63 per gallon of regular unleaded, self-serve gas marked only the second time prices have fallen in the last 12 weeks. The current price is 69 cents higher than the $1.94 found a year ago at this time.

AAA urges motorist to shop around for the best prices as the survey noted a range between $2.56 and $2.70 a gallon for self serve, unleaded gasoline. Motorists can visit AAA’s new Fuel Finder at www.aaa.com to find the best prices in their area.

Over 80 percent of the stations surveyed expect to be open on Labor Day.

AAA expects no let up in travel despite rising fuel costs as it estimates that 34.5 million Americans will travel 50 or more miles form home this holiday weekend. This is a 0.9 percent increase from last year.

In 2004, holiday travel increased 2.4 percent from the previous year. The smaller increase this year is likely due to a combination of high gas prices and the fact that an increasing number of school systems begin classes before Labor Day, according to the release.