A Labor Day weekend road trip is going to put extra strain on your pocketbook this year.
Heading into the holiday weekend, Californians are paying the highest price ever per gallon of gas for this time of year — $4.39 for regular, according to the Auto Club of Southern California. That price has remained unchanged over the last week. A year ago, the statewide average was $3.24 a gallon for regular unleaded.
The national average price is $3.18 per gallon, up from $2.23 per gallon a year ago, according to the Auto Club.
Gasoline prices have been on the rise all summer in response to unusually high demand, Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring said. For the summer travel season, the Auto Club had projected in May a sharp increase in overnight road trips that included hotels stays, compared with the prior two years. The projection was based on an increase in requests — as much as 1,474% higher — for customized vacation route maps offered to Auto Club members.
Read the full story on LATimes.com.