FOCUS:GASOLINE PRICES
Where to find the cheapest gasoline
Even on same street, motorists encounter large differences
Twenty-eight consecutive days of rising gasoline prices pinched all of us last month.
But some felt more pain than others.
In Hamburg, drivers fill their tanks at more than a dozen stations scattered across town, but only one — the Yellow Goose on McKinley Parkway — sold gas for less than the county average last month.
Of the 50 cheapest stations in Erie County, none was in Hamburg. But five of the 50 most expensive stations are in the town, according to an analysis by The Buffalo News of gas prices at more than 300 stations in the Buffalo Niagara region, excluding those operated by members of the Seneca Nation of Indians.
So where’s the cheapest gas?
In Kenmore, four of the five stations surveyed beat the county average by at least 2 cents a gallon. One was 6 cents a gallon below the average.
The four Kenmore stations placed among the county’s 50 cheapest stations.
In nearby North Buffalo, the Delta Sonic on Delaware Avenue sold gas, on average, for 7 cents below most stations. It posted lower prices during May than any other non-American Indian retailer.
While a couple of South Park Avenue stations in Blasdell sell below the average, once motorists drive into Hamburg, the best they found were just average prices.
“I hear it all day long, and almost every customer is sure to tell me what exactly is on their mind,” said Robin Ralph, an employee at Stop & Gas on St. Francis Drive, near Big Tree Road, Hamburg’s most expensive station.
“Nobody has been unruly, but nobody is happy either,” she said.
The grumbling can be heard across the county.
Don’t expect cheaper prices among the cluster of Mobil stations in East Amherst.
Same goes for stations along Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo.
The News analyzed nearly 8,500 daily gas prices at more than 300 retail gas outlets in Erie and Niagara counties throughout the month of May.
During the month, Erie County’s average price increased 40 cents, from $2.21 to $2.61 a gallon. The average price rose for 28 consecutive days—from May 3 to May 31— usually by a penny a day, but by 2 cents or 3 cents on eight days.
The Niagara County average also rose by 40 cent over the month.
By Thursday, the average price was $2.80 in the Buffalo Niagara region, compared with $4.25 a year ago, according to AAA Western and Central New York.
Elmwood variations
The News’ analysis shows the range of gas prices often vary by street, even by different stretches of the same street, and the presence of a Delta Sonic or a Mobil outlet.
Along Elmwood, prices are higher in Buffalo, but cheaper in Kenmore.
Among the other findings:
• Four Delta Sonics placed among the five cheapest retail outlets in Erie County. The price at the most expensive Delta Sonic was 3 cents under the average, a better price than at the station selling the cheapest Exxon/Mobil brand.
• Rival stations generally posted lower prices if they’re located near a Delta Sonic, especially in Buffalo, Cheektowaga and Orchard Park. But that was not the case in West Seneca.
• Eighteen of the 25 most expensive stations in Erie County sold the Exxon/Mobil brand, and six are in Amherst.
• More stations sell Sunoco gas than any other brand, and they blanket Erie County. Six of every 10 sold at average or below average prices. They are cheaper in Cheektowaga, generally average in the Town of Tonawanda and above average in Snyder, Eggertsville and the Williamsville vicinity.
• The Southtowns generally had pricier stations than the rest of the county, with the exception of the Town of Orchard Park, which ranked among the cheaper towns to buy gas.
• American Indian retailers sold the cheapest gas in the Buffalo Niagara region, with Smokin’ Joes and Randy’s Smoke Shop on the Tuscarora Indian Reservation at 15 cents below other retailers.
• In Niagara County, the Lockport area has more places with below-average prices than Niagara Falls. Of the dozen most expensive stations in the county, six are in Niagara Falls. Of stations charging below average prices, nine are in Lockport while four are in Niagara Falls.
Highest in Boston
Motorists paid the most at the Mobil station on Boston State Road, just off Route 219, in the Town of Boston, where the price averaged 11 cents more a gallon than Erie County’s average, the analysis by The News found.
The nearest competitor is more than two miles away, and the station sells what many customers want: soda, beer and lottery tickets, plus hundreds of other items, from night crawlers and firewood to bread and pet food.
The station is open 24 hours a day, so global positioning systems send travelers its way when most other stations are closed.
One day last week, Susan Walterich paid $2.84 a gallon.
“Fine with me,” she said of the price, explaining that the station is on her route from work to her baby sitter’s home. She also noted that she can buy a cup of coffee if she wants.
Like many other drivers, she is willing to pay for convenience.
Her other option between home and work is a truck stop.
So will she look for somewhere cheaper to buy gas?
“Probably not,” she said.
Fortunately, others have choices.
Like Kenmore, several other villages offer cheaper options.
All three stations surveyed in East Aurora beat the county average.
So did six of the seven stations in Springville.
Even in areas where gas is higher, some stations offer ways to reduce the price.
The Lake County Dairy in Boston reduces prices by a nickel a gallon on Sundays.
The cash price is a dime less at the Valero station on Starin Avenue in Buffalo.
The Camp Road Kwik Fill in Hamburg offers a discount for using the Kwik Fill credit card.
Jeannine Lee, 52, of the Town of Tonawanda, fills up her Chevy Impala at only one station: the Getty outlet at 2355 Elmwood Ave., just north of Kenmore Avenue, in Kenmore.
The station is the seventh cheapest among 257 Erie County retail outlets whose daily prices were tracked in May by Oil Price Information Services, a New Jersey firm that receives daily gasoline and diesel prices for more than 100,000 retail outlets across the nation.
“This is the place for me,” Lee said as she pumped $25 worth into her 2006 Chevy Impala, a biweekly ritual after payday.
“Could I drive five miles and find a cheaper station? Maybe. But this is convenient,” she said. “I don’t need to drive out of my way to go a penny cheaper. And honestly, I can’t remember the last time this station wasn’t the cheapest on the block.”
‘Too high,’ some say
But even in areas where gasoline runs lower, some motorists fume about prices.
“The prices — they’re too damn high!” said Darrell Corathers, a Riverside resident buying gas last week in Kenmore.
At a penny or two below the Erie County average, gasoline still costs more here than in other parts of the country.
The nationwide average price of self-serve regular is $2.68, down $1.39 from last year, according to AAA. Travelers in New York State can expect to pay $2.85 per gallon on average.
Still, motorists are better off than just a year ago.
Prices reached record highs of more than $4 a gallon during last year’s Fourth of July holiday. This year, fuel prices have increased since May but have begun to level off, the AAA reports.
Like others, Corathers wants to see prices fall—not just level off.
He drives a 1993 Ford pickup and has $40 to spend each week on gas. He stopped at the Gulf station on Military Road— among the 50 stations with the lower prices in Erie County — for one of his two weekly $20 visits.
He glared at the pump’s meter as the dollar amount shot higher.
“Back a few years ago, I could fill up a tank for the week, and that would do it,” he said. “Now, $20 is all I can afford.”
plakamp@buffnews.com and jmay@buffnews.com
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