TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo gas prices fell 2.6 cents per gallon in the past week, just in time for Thanksgiving travel, which is expected to return to near pre-pandemic levels.
According to AAA, roughly 53.4 million people are expected to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, up 13% from 2020. That would bring travel volumes within 5% of pre-pandemic levels in 2019, with air travel almost completely recovering from its fall during the pandemic, up 80% over last year.
“This Thanksgiving, travel will look a lot different than last year,” AAA Travel Senior Vice President Paula Twidale said. “Now that the borders are open and new health and safety guidelines are in place, travel is once again high on the list for Americans who are ready to reunite with their loved ones for the holiday.”
With an expected 6.4 million more people traveling this Thanksgiving, AAA is urging people to prepare for roads and airports to be noticeably more crowded.
For Toledoans planning to fill up their tanks before heading out, the price at the pump is an average of 2.6 cents per gallon lower than last week, for an average of $3.17 per gallon on Monday, according to GasBuddy.
Gas prices in Toledo are 5.2 cents lower per gallon than one month ago, but $1.40 higher per gallon than one year ago.
GasBuddy reported Monday that the cheapest station in Toledo had prices at $2.97 per gallon, while the most expensive came in at $3.39 per gallon, a difference of 42 cents.
In Ohio as a whole, the lowest price of gas came in at $2.84, with the highest reported at $3.59 per gallon.
The national average price of gasoline also fell Monday by 1.9 cents, averaging $3.39 per gallon.
"With oil prices plunging nearly $10 from the recent peak of $85 per barrel, motorists will start to see gas prices decline nationwide, just in time for Thanksgiving, and the decline could stretch for several weeks," GasBuddy Head of Petroleum Analysis Patrick De Haan said. "It's not impossible - so long as oil prices hold near these levels or continue falling - that the national average could shed 15 to 30 cents per gallon over the coming weeks, while some areas like California could see declines of as much as 25 to 40 cents. While there's reason to be optimistic that the peak of gas prices will soon be behind us, the decline in the price of oil is likely reflecting the possibility of a coordinated global release of oil from strategic reserves. If that doesn't happen, oil could again rally. However, with COVID cases on the rise again reducing global demand, it does seem the most likely outcome will be a drop in gas prices that could last several weeks."