Travelers Hitting the Road for Fourth of July Weekend

Holiday travel will be hectic this weekend as more than 5 million travelers statewide are set to hit the roads. About 3.1 million people in Southern California will be getting out of town as the nation gets ready to celebrate Independence Day.

Travel is expected to increase by 2.8% statewide compared to last year's Fourth of July holiday according to a survey from the Automobile Club of Southern California. A holiday trip is defined as any motorist who's driving more than 50 miles away from home between Friday and Tuesday July 4th. 

Around 79% of holiday travelers from Southern California will be driving to their holiday destination, a 2.7% increase over last year, while another 395,000 are expected to fly. Almost 260,000 Southland residents will travel by train, cruise ship, bus or other means. 

Gas prices are up about 10 cents over this time last year, with most prices at the pump for regular unleaded under $3 a gallon at most stations. 

People are heading for vacation hotspots like San Diego, Las Vegas, and San Francisco for their vacations. 

"Travelers continue to feel confident that they have the  discretionary income to spend on trips because of rising wages and lower  unemployment,'' said Filomena Andre, the Auto Club’s vice president for travel.  ``Strong growth in air travel also indicates a full recovery from the recession  of 2008 and 2009.''

Nationally, abour 44.2 million Americans are expected to hit the road for their Fourth of July holiday, an all-time record and increase of nearly 3% over last year. Most people (about 37.5 million) will go by car, with 3.44 million flying and another 3.27 million using other means. 


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