AAA: The holidays of July 4 will inspire a record trip – News – Daily Commercial

DAYTONA BEACH – A record number of Americans, about 46 million, will be traveling for the next vacation on July 4th, according to the projections of the AAA auto club.

AAA sets the period of the Independence holidays as ranging from Tuesday to Sunday, July 3-8

In Florida, nearly 2.4 million people will travel during the weekend of vacation, according to AAA. This represents a 6.3% increase over the 2017 vacation and represents nearly 142,000 more travelers than last year.

On the highways, nearly 2.1 million Floridians will make a car trip, an increase of 121,000 compared to 2017's 6.2% jump. By plane, AAA estimates that 184,000 Floridians will go to a destination, an increase of 7.7%, which represents 13,000 additional passengers compared to last year.

Also in Florida, nearly 137,000 Floridians will travel by train, bus or cruise ship. Nationally, AAA expects that nearly 47 million Americans will travel for Independence Day, an increase of 5.3 percent over the previous year. 39, last year. This includes 39.7 million on the roads, an increase of 5.1% over 2017; and a record 3.8 million passengers by air, an increase of 7.9%, marking the ninth consecutive year of air travel.

In addition, 3.5 million passengers will travel by train, bus or cruise ship

For the 39.7 million Americans planning a road trip on July 4, Tuesday will be the busiest day on the roads, predicts AAA. INRIX, a global transportation analysis company, estimates that travel times in the most congested cities in the United States could be twice as long as normal.

Assistant Vice President, Travel Sales Development at AAA. "Consumers remain confident in the economy and have extra disposable income to spend on a summer getaway."

Besides a strong economy, another variable likely to stimulate holiday travel is the fact that the Independence holidays fall on a Wednesday. This allows travelers to plan a trip that starts the weekend before the holiday or ends the following weekend, says AAA.

For motorists, motorists will find the most expensive prices on Independence Day in three or four years. Prices should rise before the holidays, said AAA. On Saturday, pump prices averaged $ 2.71 in Florida and $ 2.85 nationally, AAA reports.

On Friday, the cost of a gallon of regular gas in Leesburg ranged from $ 2.64 to $ 2.75 on the GasBuddy.com online price tracking website. In Clermont, the cost ranged from $ 2.49 to $ 2.67 per gallon, according to the same site.

For last year 's holiday, the average price was $ 2.15 in Florida and $ 2.23 at the national level. On July 4, 2015, gasoline prices averaged $ 2.67 in Florida and $ 2.77 nationally. During the 2014 vacation, a regular gallon was $ 3.60 in Florida and $ 3.66 nationwide.

This week, oil prices reached their highest level in 3.5 years, a change that will lead to higher prices. 196519002] "Seems like the pleasure is over for motorists who have benefited from a drop in the price of gas for a month," said Mark Jenkins, spokesperson for AAA. . "