You and about 3.54 million of your closest friends in the region will get in trains, planes and automobiles to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday this year, according to the Auto Club of Southern California.

That's a slight increase from last year.

The office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says a record 2.1 million travelers will pass through LAX over the Thanksgiving holiday week, a seven percent increase compared to the same time last year.

Fueling all that locomotion are gas prices we haven't seen in a while.

The Auto Club says you'll be paying a whopping $5 less for a tank of gas, on average, than you did during this time in 2014.

“Wholesale prices have dropped by about 50 cents per gallon since the start of November as supplies have apparently stabilized,” says AAA spokesman Jeffrey Spring.

The nation is looking at sub-$2-per-gallon prices, on average, says comparison site GasBuddy.com.

“GasBuddy predicts the national average prices for a gallon of gas will be $1.99 by Thursday, which has not happened since March 2009,” says spokeswoman and analyst Allison Mac. “Although California won’t be that low, we are seeing low-for-us prices.”

The Auto Club last week said Southern California was looking at $2.80 averages. Last night GasBuddy listed some prices as low as $2.43. 

“November gas prices have slid significantly lower and holiday travelers will certainly be the beneficiaries,” said Patrick DeHaan, a senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy. “It’s a trend we expect will continue through the end of 2015, so if you like the prices you see on Thanksgiving, you’ll be delighted when Christmas arrives.”

Beware, however.

The California Highway Patrol and other police agencies will be working a holiday Maximum Enforcement Period in an effort to get drunk drivers off the roads and behind bars.

“The law is explicit,” the CHP said in a statement. “Driving with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 percent or more is illegal, but even with a lower BAC a driver may be a hazard and taken to jail.”

Be safe.

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