Find Cheapest Gas In Maplewood- South Orange For Memorial Day Weekend

SOUTH ORANGE-MAPLEWOOD, NJ — High gas prices are adding a new line to the family trip budget, but they probably won’t keep Maplewood and South Orange residents off the road this Memorial Day weekend, experts say.

According to GasBuddy, here’s where some of the cheapest gas in Maplewood and South Orange could be found on Thursday:

• Phillips 66 (2018 Springfield Avenue in Maplewood) - $4.41
• Delta (252 Irvington Avenue in South Orange) - $4.53
• Wawa (1511 Springfield Avenue in Maplewood) - $4.59
• Exxon (68 West South Orange Avenue in South Orange) - $4.79

The average cost of a gallon of regular gas in New Jersey on May 21 was $4.53, according to GasBuddy.

The average cost of a gallon of regular gas nationwide on Monday was $4.47 following a modest, one-cent drop over the previous week, according to GasBuddy data from more than 12 million individual price reports covering 150,000 gas stations across the country. Georgia had the cheapest gas in the country at $3.97 for a gallon of regular, while at an average of $6.14 a gallon, California had the most expensive gas.

Using GasBuddy’s national average, a 500-mile round trip in a vehicle getting 25 miles per gallon would cost about $89 in gas, roughly $26 more than the same trip at last Memorial Day’s national average of $3.17.

AAA estimates a record 39.1 million people will travel by car during the May 21-25 holiday period. The result of high gas prices isn’t a canceled holiday as much as it is a reimagined one.

About 30 percent of respondents to a survey for Bank of America’s summer travel outlook said higher gas prices wouldn’t change their plans, while others said they would take fewer trips, choose destinations closer to home or cut back on costs such as accommodations. Lower-income households were far more likely to have no summer travel plans.

An Intuit Credit Karma survey found gas costs are forcing some households to make trade-offs, with respondents saying rising gas prices have led them to sacrifice visits to family and friends, road trips and family vacations.

In a Talker Research survey of 5,000 Americans commissioned by Current and conducted by Talker Research, 32 percent of respondents predicted staycations would be the top summer travel trend. The survey defined staycations as staying within a city or state for a casual trip and returning home to sleep. It also found 22 percent of summer travelers planned more day trips or adventures within their own city or state, and 22 percent planned shorter trips.

This article contains reporting from the Patch national desk

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