Some say they’re staying closer to home and others are choosing to save on other things so they can get out of town. News4’s Darcy Spencer reports.
Whether they're traveling for the Memorial Day weekend or staying close to home, many D.C.-area drivers say the high gas prices are affecting their plans.
"The travel had to come to an end. You know, normally we go down south, but this year we'll just stay home and maybe put something on grill," Cyrille Tchouante told News4 on Friday.
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WATCH HERETchouante said his family is grappling with the prices at the pump.
"Ugh. It’s crazy right now, you know, and knowing that we drive from D.C., Maryland and Virginia daily. Gas prices [are] killing us," he said.
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SIGN UP Travel groups still predict large numbers of people in the D.C. area will take a road trip, despite the record-high prices.
According to AAA, 958,000 D.C. metro area residents will travel 50 miles or more this weekend. That’s about 5% more travelers compared to last year's Memorial Day weekend.
But News4 spoke to several people who say they're not going anywhere.
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"This weekend is going to be at home. The prices are just outrageous for everything across the board," one woman said.
Costs are about to get worse for drivers who fill up in Maryland. There will be an automatic increase of nearly 7 cents per gallon in the state’s gas tax in July.
Officials and lawmakers have been debating on whether they should delay the gas tax increase.
"I would tell them to stop playing around and try to fix this because it's making the price of everything go up. Everything's getting expensive. The food's expensive. It's crazy out here," driver Boris Fogwe said.
Some who are traveling said they're making changes on the trip to make up for some of the increased cost.
"We actually made sandwiches to eat on the way up rather than stop and get something to eat," Dave Williams said.
Williams and his wife, Barbara Williams, said they're determined to see their grandchildren, high gas prices or not.
"Not stopping me from seeing the grandkids. Not at all. Nothing's gonna stop me from that," Barbara Williams said.
