Bay Area travelers will join 5 million Californians on the move for July 4

Marissa Colombo, a nursing student at Dominican University, filled up her white Jeep with exactly $40 at a gas station in Mill Valley. She used to put in $35, but that’s not enough anymore.

“I’m young, broke and in college,” she said. “I pay in cash so it’s capped at a certain amount, for my budgeting.”

The gas per gallon, if paying in cash, at this Arco in Mill Valley, located right off Highway 101, was $4.35 per gallon. It was cheaper than many other stations in the area. The line of cars waiting for a place at a pump was backed up past the off-ramp onto the highway.

Colombo has Fourth of July plans to go camping in Mendocino, but she’ll be taking her mother’s hybrid car. She said whenever she travels, she uses her mother’s car because the mileage per gallon is much better, and therefore cheaper.

She’s not alone in her plans. A record-breaking 5.6 million Californians are projected to travel this holiday weekend, an increase of 5% from last year according to AAA Northern California. Over 85% of the anticipated 50.7 million traveling in the whole U.S. for the Fourth of July will travel by car.

While California no longer holds the nation’s No. 1 spot for highest gas prices — Washington state is currently averaging $4.98 per gallon of regular gas — Marin residents are still feeling the sting of rising gas prices.

The national average is $3.56 per gallon of regular gas; in California it is $4.83 per gallon. This is low compared to last year, where the average price was $6.31 per gallon of regular gas in the state.

Katie Philpott of San Rafael said she would prefer not to pay anything over $3 a gallon, but understands why California has higher prices. She said if you count inflation over the past few years, it does not seem so bad.

“We’d like to pay what the national average is, but understand why it is the way it is.”

California has had higher gas rates for years due to higher taxes and clean fuel requirements. While most will be traveling by road, AAA’s forecast also expects the amount of people traveling by air to increase to 8.2%, the highest it has been in almost 20 years.

“Despite limited inventory and airfare soaring 50% higher than last year, consumers are choosing not to scale back their travel plans,” said Brian Ng, senior vice president of membership and travel marketing for AAA Northern California, in a statement. “This holiday weekend, there’s going to be a huge influx in travelers.”

According to AAA, Friday will be the busiest day for traveling by car; specifically, 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. Philpott and her husband will be spending their weekend at the Marin County Fair, just next door to them.

“It’s so close we could walk,” she said.

George De Bruins of Novato said he’d also be staying local by spending time at the fair. He said gas prices are way too high.

“We’re staying close to home,” he said.