Mainlanders, you're lucky: Vineyard gas has soared past $4 per gallon

By Globe Staff

If you think gas prices are getting high at your local service station, just look across the water to the island of Martha’s Vineyard, where the prices have edged over $4 per gallon.

At the airport service station, manager Jennifer Medeiros, 32, said prices for unleaded gas had edged over the $4 mark a few days ago and were now at $4.12.

“Nobody’s happy about it, but we’re trying to make the best of it. We’re trying to keep the prices down as low as we possibly can,” she said.

Glenn Seelye, a clerk at Tisbury Shell, said unleaded was $4.19 at his station. He said hard-pressed people, instead of filling up, are buying only $10 worth, enough to get them by until they can get to the mainland to buy cheaper gas.

Martha's Vineyard Taxi owner Morgan Reitzas told The Associated Press he had been forced to raise fares for longer routes to Chilmark and Aquinnah, which can now cost $75. Reitzas said that even with the higher fees and some disgruntled customers, he was barely breaking even.

On Nantucket, the other major island favored by vacationers off the coast, clerks at two gas stations reported prices just below $4 this afternoon.

AAA Southern New England reports that the average gas price in the Boston area today is $3.49, compared with $3.13 a month ago and $2.77 a year ago.

Gas prices have been hitting record highs in recent days. Experts say the average price could hit $3.90 or $4.00.

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