Gas Prices Haven't Slowed Holiday Getaway Plans

Average gasoline prices statewide are nearly $2 a gallon, and the Los Angeles region has once again been dubbed the nation's hub of traffic congestion.

So, what's a good Southern Californian to do?

Plan a road trip.

Despite spiraling prices and gloomy economic forecasts, a survey by the Automobile Club of Southern California finds that Southern Californians are expected to hit the roads this Memorial Day weekend in greater numbers than last year.

A separate nationwide survey by the Associated Press this week found three in 10 Americans saying that the rise in gasoline prices has caused them to cancel weekend trips, cut back their plans or change their mode of transportation. But the Auto Club surveys, both here and nationally, suggest that those cutbacks are not likely to affect the always congested holiday weekend.

Across Southern California, many motorists have changed their daily driving habits since gasoline prices hit the $2 mark in April.

Ridership on Los Angeles County's buses and rail lines has increased slightly. At the same time, calls to a regional ride-share program have shot up nearly 45%.

"Maybe we are hitting a point where people are finally sick of this," said Jill Smolinski, spokeswoman for Southern California Rideshare.

Motorists say they also are cutting back on quick local trips whenever possible.

Edwin Hendy, a professional bodyguard from Los Angeles, said he is carpooling with friends to the Magic Mountain amusement park in Santa Clarita this weekend instead of taking a separate car.

"I don't drive unless I have to," he said as he pumped $30 worth of gas into his Acura at a Shell station on Figueroa Boulevard near USC. "Things are just too expensive."

Armando Castillos of Oxnard said the high gasoline prices kept him from a long-planned trip to a resort lake near San Luis Obispo.

He said he is frustrated by the added expense of paying nearly $60 to fill the tank in his Ford F150 truck and angry "at the whole conspiracy."

Other drivers, like Tim Crist, 40, of Canoga Park say they must simply grin and bear it.

"I don't like the prices, but I don't have a choice," he said as he filled up his 1996 Dodge Caravan at an AM/PM in Chatsworth. "I have to go to work, and I have to take my kids to school."

Because of the higher prices, Chong Rake of Fountain Valley said she has permanently parked her family's gas-guzzling van and now shops around for the lowest gasoline prices for her Ford Taurus.