INDIANAPOLIS — AAA predicts record Thanksgiving travel this year. They expect 80 million Americans to travel by car, including millions of Hoosiers. If you're here in Indy, you may have noticed changing prices at the pump.
“I think there’s been some fluctuation currently, [I] definitely found the cheapest one. I’ve been driving around a little bit today,” said traveler Rebeka Mercker.
She’s among 1.9 million Hoosiers who will be hitting the road for the Holiday and paying different prices at the pump.
“I filled up my tank for about $30 today, so I was really pleasantly surprised with the price right now,” said Allison Biddinger, who’s heading to St. Louis for the Holiday.
She filled up at a gas station on Morris Street in Indianapolis for just over $2.70 a gallon, but less than a mile away prices were $0.50 more.
“The trend nationalized so that gas prices have gently declined, although in Indianapolis, these are markets that engage in what we call price cycling,” explained Patrick De Haan, the head Petroleum Analyst at GasBuddy. “It's a bit more of a roller coaster ride where prices continuously drop until stations suddenly raise prices again, 30, 40, or 50 cents a gallon.”
De Haan told WRTV we should see the fluctuating prices heading into the Thanksgiving Holiday and weeks after.
“We're going to see on and off sub $3 prices. There's going to be days when we see a price cycle and prices shoot up to $3.29, there's going to be days when prices get down into the $2.70s, maybe the $2.60s or even the $2.50s," he said. "It's just a matter of time before the sub $3 price of return, again, something that probably will happen in early December."
Experts believe lower prices this year compared to last year are fueling the higher road traffic.
They predict the busiest time to be on the roads will be Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon and this Sunday after Thanksgiving.
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