The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Low gas prices predicted to spark more holiday travel
This year’s Independence Day weekend is predicted to be the most traveled July 4 holiday ever.
“More Americans are eager to take advantage of the strong economy and celebrate with family and friends,” Jim Lehman, president of AAA East Central, said in a news release. “Steady gas prices are providing an extra spark for Fourth of July travel plans.”
A record-breaking 44.2 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more away from home by car between June 30 and July 4.
Of those travelers, 1.9 million are Ohioans — a 50,000-person state increase over the same time period in 2016, said Jim Garrity, AAA’s public and community relations manager.
More than 1.6 million Ohio residents will be driving over the long holiday weekend, 81,578 will fly and 139,471 will be taking a train, bus, boat or cruise ship, Garrity said.
As in the 2017 Memorial Day holiday weekend, a recent global glut of oil is helping to keep supplies up, resulting in a small price bump vs. the normal larger price bump that occurs over the holidays, he added.
As of June 22, the national average gas price was $2.28 a gallon — 4 cents cheaper than the same time last year and a contributing factor to the increase in travelers on the roads over the holiday, Garrity said.
“Gas prices probably will go up as we get closer to July 4, but it might be by pennies,” he said.
There is more good news for holiday travelers.
According to AAA’s Leisure Travel Index, daily car rental rates will average $65, or 14 percent less than last July 4 weekend. Hotel costs are the same as last year, with the average AAA Three Diamond Rated hotel costing $185 per night.