Remember to pack some patience during the holiday

Record number of Americans will travel over July 4 holiday

PHILADELPHIA » If you are planning to travel over the Independence Day holiday — you might want to pack a little patience.

AAA Mid-Atlantic is predicting a record number of people will be traveling during the holiday period — defined as July 3 through July 8.

An estimated 631,000 Philadelphia-area residents are expected to travel 50 miles or more for the holiday, an increase of more than five percent over last year’s forecast, according to AAA.

In fact, the agency said its forecast represents the most travelers for summer’s second travel holiday since AAA began tracking 18 years ago.

“This Independence Day will be one for the record books, as more local travelers take to the roads, skies, rails and waterways than ever before,” Jana L. Tidwell, manager of public and government affairs for AAA MidAtlantic said in a press release. “Confident consumers with additional disposable income will look to spend on travel this holiday, building on an already busy summer travel season.”

It likely will come as no surprise that the majority of area travelers — an estimated 528,914 thousand from across the fivecounty Philadelphia region — will take to the roads, according to data supplied by AAA. That’s an increase of about 4.7 percent over 2017.

Motorists planning to make their holiday escape by car, should allow some extra travel time — especially on Tuesday.

July 3 is expected to be the busiest day, particularly in the late afternoon as commuters leave work and mix in with holiday travelers. Travel times could increase twofold in major cities across the U.S., according to AAA. Drivers are encouraged to avoid peak commuting hours or consider alternative routes.

AAA is also projecting a record number of Philadelphia-area travelers — 52,315 — will use the airways to reach their destinations. That is a 9.9 percent increase over 2017 and the ninth consecutive air travel volume increases.

Remember, all of these numbers are for Philadelphia-area travelers. AAA projects that nationwide, 39.7 million people will travel to their holiday destinations by car, while 3.76 million will fly. Both numbers represent increases over 2017.

So, what is causing the increase in travelers? In addition to strong economic variables, AAA said that because Independence Day falls on a Wednesday, travelers have more flexibility to schedule a trip the weekend before or after the holiday.

Gas prices have been declining since Memorial Day with Pennsylvania expected to drop below the $3.00 mark before the holiday. However, motorists will still be paying the highest gas prices since 2014 over this holiday period, according to AAA.

The average price per gallon of gas Wednesday in the five-county

Philadelphia region was $3.04, compared with $2.45 per gallon for the same period last year. In 2014, the price of gas per gallon for the same period was $3.78.

Across the region, the

average price per gallon on Wednesday ranged from $2.70 in Delaware to $2.77 in South Jersey. Nationally, the average price per gallon of gas was $2.85 on June 27.

With so many motorists traveling over the holiday, AAA expects to provide roadside assistance to more than 362,000 motorists.

During the 2017 Independence Day holiday, AAA MidAtlantic assisted more than 6,700 drivers in the Philadelphia five-county area as a result of dead batteries, lockouts, flat tires and more, according to the release.

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