Nearly 43-million Americans expected to travel, including 890,000 Marylanders.
The road could be a little crowded during the July 4th weekend. AAA Mid-Atlantic is forecasting that nearly 43-million Americans will be traveling during the holiday period, including 890,000 Marylanders. “Travel volume reflects a 1.3% increase over last year’s holiday. But most interestingly, it’s a record number of travelers for a July 4th Holiday weekend,” says AAA Mid-Atlantic spokeswoman Christine Delise.
One reason for the increase could be that July 4th is on a Monday this year, and that gives most people at three-day weekend. “We’re also seeing the reason for the strong volume number is lower gas prices compared to last year, a more confident consumer and rising economic activity despite a cooling labor market,” she says.
The July 4th Holiday period is defined as Thursday, June 30th to Monday, July 4th.
AAA says 84.6% of Americans will be traveling by car. In Maryland, it’s 86.9% traveling by automobile.
If you’re planning to take a trip by car, the auto club recommends you have your vehicle “road ready.” That includes getting a mechanic to look over the vehicle, and top off any fluids; and make sure your battery can handle the long drive. AAA says you don’t want to spend most of your vacation stranded on the highway, waiting for road service. The auto club says it expects to answer 25,000 calls throughout the region, mostly for dead batteries, lockouts and flat tires.
AAA says 7.8% of Americans are going by air, including 7.4% of Marylanders. The auto club says 40 domestic flight routes are 9% less then Independence Day in 2015. “With fuel costs much lower than last year, that’s helping airlines pass the savings on to travelers,” says Delise.
AAA says hotel room costs have fallen slightly this July 4th compared to last year.