SAN DIEGO — The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in San Diego County dropped Monday for the 17th consecutive day, decreasing three-tenths of a cent to $5.041.
The average price has decreased 50 times in 54 days since rising to a record $6.435 on Oct. 5, falling $1.349, including 2.9 cents Sunday, according to figures from the AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. It is 21.3 cents less than one week ago and 55.9 cents lower than one month ago, but 41.6 cents more than one year ago.
The lowest-priced gas stations in Southern California are now charging less than $4.40 a gallon, according to Doug Shupe, the Automobile Club of Southern California's corporate communications manager.
The national average price dropped for the 19th consecutive day, decreasing nine-tenths of a cent to $3.546. It is 11.6 cents less than one week ago and 21.5 cents lower than one month ago, but 15.2 cents more than one year ago. The national average price has dropped 25.9 cents over the past 19 days, including 1.1 cents Sunday. It is $1.47 lower than the record $5.016 set June 14.
The drop in prices is welcomed as many people are still making their way home after travelling for Thanksgiving. AAA estimated that nearly 55 million Americans would hit the road, rail, or air for Thanksgiving, making this year the third busiest since the company started keeping track, back in 2000. On Saturday alone, the TSA screened more than 2.2 million people.
AAA expects travel to continue into this week, with more Americans now working remotely.
WATCH RELATED: Thanksgiving travelers wait in Terminal 1 Gridlock on busiest travel day of Thanksgiving week