New Speedway Price Signs Surprise Some Binghamton-Area Drivers

The operator of many convenience stores in Broome and Tioga counties has changed the way gas prices are displayed causing a bit of confusion for some customers.

Speedway recently implemented a new system at most of its Binghamton-area locations highlighting a special price for those enrolled in a discount program.

Local Speedway locations had posted the same gasoline price for cash and credit card purchases since the 2015 conversion from Hess.

Digital price displays were recently installed at pumps at Binghamton-area Speedway stores. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)

Now, the display signs motorists see when they drive past a Speedway store display the price when a customer uses a "Pay Card." The regular unleaded price - which is ten cents a gallon higher - is shown below.

Digital prices displays now have been installed above the pumps showing the two-tiered pricing structure.

The Speedway Pay Card program is enables a purchase to be made using a debit transaction.

A Binghamton Speedway price display in 2020. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)

Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, says there are many programs that gas stations use to try to "shave down their costs" to help "limit their interchange fees" they pay to credit card companies.

De Haan says motorists "always have to pay attention" to the way prices are displayed. He says "there could be a catch" so "your eyes have always got to be open."

A pump price display at a Speedway store in Binghamton on December 12, 2020. (Photo: Bob Joseph/WNBF News)

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or (607) 772-8400 extension 233.

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LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.