Cheaper gas impacts Valley residents' holiday travel

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A new poll suggests most Valley residents will stay home this Fourth of July holiday.

According to an exclusive Action News poll conducted by Survey USA, 82 percent of Valley residents do not plan to do any traveling for the Fourth of July while 17-percent will be leaving the area. Gas prices are a key factor in travel plans this holiday.

Joseph Rangel and his family will be watching the fireworks this Fourth of July from this boat on Bass Lake.

"We kind of save up for it. We're pretty good to go either way. But it does make it a lot easier once the price is downgraded," he said.

Rangel was gearing up for the trip by filling up his pontoon boat at this Northwest Fresno Arco gas station were a gallon of unleaded runs at $3.53 - well below the Fresno average.

24:14 It's like 100 dollars to fill it up or something and I think I just put in 71 bucks, so there' s a little bit in there. It will be fun though.

According to Gasbuddy.com, the price of gas in Fresno has fallen 7.2 cents in the last week, averaging $3.66 a gallon. That's down almost fifty cents from a month ago. The dropping prices have some people venturing out more this summer.

Melanie Evans from Fresno said, "I just went up to Calistoga this weekend because the gas prices have gone down, which I probably wouldn't have done. But now that it's under $3.50 it's worth going now."

According to our exclusive Action News poll conducted recently by Survey USA, thirty-six percent of people say they are rethinking their summer vacation plans thanks to the recent drop in gas prices. But fifty-eight percent of those polled say before prices fell, they had to change or cancel their travel plans.

Bill Carmichael of Fresno said, "With it being $3:50 it does help, but don't think it's going to encourage me to move on any faster as far as going out of town or anything like that. It's still way high , I don't know if it's going to change soon."

While some people will stay local this holiday, Rangel, who has made Bass Lake a family tradition on the 4th, says the cheaper fuel is more money saved for his trip.

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fresno, travel, gas prices, holiday, local, carlos saucedo

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