Roads will be more crowded for the Fourth

Published 4:23 pm Wednesday, July 1, 2015

If you’re planning to hop in the car for a road trip to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday this weekend, you’re far from alone. 

Auto club AAA estimates that nearly 42 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles during the Independence Day holiday travel period, this year defined as Wednesday through Sunday. That’s a slight increase from last year and the most in eight years.

Perceived improvements in the economy and recent encouraging job reports are being cited as the main reasons for the uptick in planned getaways.

“People are feeling better about the economy, and they have and are willing to spend more discretionary money this year,” said Greg Seiter, public affairs manager for the AAA Hoosier Motor Club.

Those heading out of town are expected to take plenty of cash with them as well. The U.S. Travel Association projects that Fourth of July travelers will spend nearly $15.8 billion, an average of $378 per person.

The vast majority of travelers — 85 percent, or nearly 35.5 million — will head for their weekend destinations by car, and they should end up spending less at the pump. Gas prices, while slowly increasing since Memorial Day, are still lower than last year. For example, the average price in Indiana on Wednesday was $2.72, a full dollar lower than the same day in 2014. And the national average for the first six months of this year was the lowest it’s been since 2009.

“It’s much easier to decide on that summer road trip when you know you’ve saved a lot on gas so far this year,” said AAA spokesman Avery Ash. “The gas savings should continue for the rest of the summer, which should motivate even more travel.”

For the first time in five years, the Fourth of July falls on a weekend day, but many travel analysts are discounting that as another reason for the expected increase in road trips.

“People have decided weeks ago in most cases whether or not they’re going to travel,” Seiter said. “You may have some spur-of-the-moment decisions to pack up and go, but on a large scale, people tend to plan more in advance.”