Gas in Gainesville drops below $2

All 16 pumps at the Wawa gas station in Gainesville were backed up with vehicles ready to guzzle gasoline at $1.94 per gallon Tuesday afternoon.

Despite recent drops in gas prices across the nation, many people were willing to wait the extra few minutes at Wawa to save about 9 cents per gallon.

Eddie Harris of Haymarket said he typically goes to Wawa for gas because it is usually cheaper than other nearby stations.

Harris said he commutes to and from Washington, D.C., to work, so saving money on gas is crucial.

Chris Long of Stafford stopped at Wawa on Monday while he was in the area to fill up his Dodge truck.

Long said he usually shops around to find the cheapest price because a 5-cent difference in price would cost him about $2 or $3, which adds up.

“I’ll stay at the light for $2,” he said.

When gas prices lingered around $3 a gallon earlier this year, Long said it would cost about $100 to fill his tank.

Prices at gas stations along U.S. 29 hovered around $2 a gallon for regular gas, but Wawa offered the cheapest price Tuesday afternoon.

Regular gas at the 7-Eleven across the street from Wawa on U.S. 29 was $2.03 a gallon Tuesday afternoon.

Gainesville Wawa Assistant General Manager John Latif said the regular gas price has stayed at about $1.97 per gallon over the past week.

“We keep up with the competition,” Latif said in an interview Monday. “[The prices] have been making people happy. [Competitors] go down and we follow.”

Latif said the Gainesville Wawa station has been there for almost four months and has maintained steady business over that time.

But not everyone was willing to wait in line for Wawa.

Warrenton resident Stephanie Benson said she decided to fill up at the 7-Eleven Citgo across from Wawa Tuesday because she didn’t want to wait in the long lines.

Benson said she doesn’t usually shop around to find the cheapest price and goes wherever is convenient.

The average gas price Tuesday was $2.18 per gallon in the Manassas area, $2.07 per gallon in the Gainesville area and $2.19 per gallon in the Woodbridge area, according to the American Automobile Association’s Fuel Price Finder online.

The national average for regular gas was $2.37 per gallon as of Monday, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.