BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — Business is booming at the Seneca One Stop in downtown Buffalo where the price is $4.09 a gallon.
Drivers lined up, waiting for a chance to pump gas and take advantage of what is considered some of the cheaper prices in the Buffalo area.
When you woke up Wednesday morning gas prices hit another U.S. record.
AAA saying it was seven cents in the Buffalo Niagara Falls region. You can now expect to pay an average of $4.37 a gallon in our area — nearly 60-cents higher than last week.
“This is the first time I’m finding this. I hate it,” remarked Kristina Salinas. “I hate it. I really don't like it. It’s driving a strain on my pocket.”
Salinas is a University at Buffalo student. She says she is working two jobs to make ends meet. Salinas tells me she is trying to figure out how to adjust her spending to pay for gas.
“I had no gas the day that the prices changed, so it was the worst luck and I spent I think about $65 to $70,” explained Salinas. “Sometimes I need to fill up my tank every two days and that's definitely a strain on my pocket considering the new prices."
Salinas says she usually fills up at a Sunoco. But the ones we spotted in Buffalo were as high as $4.59 a gallon.
According to GasBuddy.com here are the prices for the eight counties of Western New York:
- Erie: $4.37
- Niagara: $4.33
- Orleans: $4.46
- Chautauqua: $4.31
- Cattaraugus: $4.20
- Livingston: $4.39
- Monroe: $4.36
- Allegany: $4.42
“I think it's a clear case of price gouging,” declared Layman Jones, Buffalo resident. "The oil establishment is screwing us.”
Jones says he blames the oil industry for the soaring prices.
“Are you the type that would shop around for a better gas price, or do you go to you same place?” Buckley asked. “I will support my neighborhood filling station because I want them to stay in business,” replied Jones.
In Cheektowaga on Walden Avenue at Delta Sonic, prices jumped to $4.34 a gallon. Across the street, it was a little higher at the Kwik Fill at $4.39.
At the nearby AAA of Western and Central New York, I checked in with Bryan Jajkowski, business relationship advisor, for advice on conserving gas.
“There's nothing we can really do about the price, but if we go about driving a little bit more intelligently and we combined trips,” explained Jajkowski.
Jajkowski offers several tips to help in your daily journey in a vehicle:
- Combine daily errands into one trip, if possible
- Make sure your vehicle is well maintained
- Check tire pressure
- Make sure your check engine light is not on
- Do not speed
“Make sure you don't drive 75 miles an hour and waste that extra fuel where if you drove 65 you could have saved maybe a gallon of fuel,” Jajkowski described. “We don't realize how sometimes our habits cost us money.”
