AAA Washington: Fuel Prices Continue to Drop This Holiday Season
18 December 1998
AAA Washington: Fuel Prices Continue to Drop This Holiday Season
BELLEVUE, 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