AAA Washington: Fuel Prices Continue to Drop This Holiday Season
18 December 1998
AAA Washington: Fuel Prices Continue to Drop This Holiday SeasonBELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 17 -- Fuel prices have dropped significantly since the 1997 holiday season. Washington motorists can expect the average price of self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline to be 20 cents lower than this time last year, dropping from $1.267 per gallon to $1.07 per gallon currently. Nationally, the average price of self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline decreased to $1.023 per gallon, down 3.2 cents since November. Washington's average price dropped only 1.6 cents since November. A record 45.2 million people are expected to travel 100 miles or more from home this holiday season, up 11.6 million from Thanksgiving. Both the West and Southeast are expected to have the greatest number of auto travelers, with 9.2 million from each region. From the East Coast to eastern Washington, more people travel to be with family and friends during the holiday season than any other time of year. AAA Washington is a not-for-profit organization with 13 offices in central and western Washington. The club provides more than 593,000 members with travel, insurance, financial and auto-related services. Please see attached chart for local gasoline prices. AAA Washington's Holiday 1998 Fuel Gauge Price Averages Area by Area Comparison of Self-Serve Regular Unleaded Fuel Prices City Holidays '98 Thanksgiving '98 Holidays '97 Bellevue 1.088 1.110 1.289 Bellingham 1.086 1.110 1.280 Bremerton 1.030 1.027 1.250 Everett 1.100 1.110 1.272 Lynnwood 1.093 1.092 1.270 Olympia 1.073 1.108 1.269 Renton 1.034 1.074 1.299 Seattle 1.087 1.110 1.320 Tacoma 1.059 1.069 1.289 Tri-Cities 1.005 1.013 1.094 Vancouver 1.066 1.076 1.275 Wenatchee 1.109 1.109 1.319 Yakima 1.079 1.110 1.253 Averages 1.070 1.086 1.267 Contact: Janet Ray or Jennifer Harbison, of AAA Washington, 800-562-2582