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Gas Prices Appear To Decline Ahead Of Memorial Day

BALTIMORE (WJZ)—We're starting to see a little relief from the pumped up gas prices.The average price in Baltimore has dropped to $3.89 a gallon. That's down about 12 cents from last week. But it's still 5 cents higher than what we paid last month and more than $1 higher than last year.

Many people are keeping a close eye on the pump with summer driving season right around the corner.

Derek Valcourt shows us how the high prices are impacting travel plans.

Gas prices fell slightly this week, but it's still way too high for moms like Lisa Lewis.

"I commute back and forth to work 51 miles a day, so I'm carpooling," Lewis said. "I have people carpooling with me. I'm carpooling to get the kids to school because everyone's trying to save money, and it's ridiculous how bad gas prices are."

The average price per gallon has dropped 11 cents in the last week--though it's still near the $4 mark in parts of Baltimore.

We found it for $3.83 in Aberdeen.

"Many analysts are predicting that we can expect to see them continue to decline, and hopefully by July or August even see them as low as between the $3.25 and $3.75 per gallon margin," said Ragina Averella, AAA Mid-Atlantic.

The price drop comes just in time for Memorial Day, when some 35 million Americans are planning to travel, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.  About 88 percent of them are willing to deal with the gas pain and drive. That's down just slightly from last year. 

Air travel may be benefiting in part because many Americans traveling long distances believe it's now cheaper to fly somewhere than pay for all that gas to drive there.

But others say vacationing this Memorial Day isn't an option.

"Between that and the price of gas, I really can't afford to take that extra trip right now," said Emily Boling. "We normally would go to Deep Creek Lake or down to Ocean City, but we're staying here and saving our money."

Others said they plan to spend their Memorial Day sitting at home or in their backyard.

We are still 22 cents below the record high of $4.11 a gallon that was set in 2008.

Click here to find the cheapest gas in your neighborhood.

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