Tuesday 21 June 2022 05:49 PM Record 42 million Americans are expected to hit the road for July 4 despite ... trends now
A record 42 million people around the United States are expected to hit the road for trips over the Fourth of July holiday weekend despite average gas price surging close to $5 per gallon.
The average U.S. retail price of gasoline recently broke through $5 per gallon for the first time in history, AAA said Tuesday. It is gone down slightly and is now averaging about $4.96.
While the $5 price is not record from an inflation-adjusted basis, it still represents an increase of nearly $2 per gallon from a year earlier. Despite the higher cost, gasoline demand is only 1 percent below the average for this time of year in the United States.
The 42 million figure, should it pan out, would surpass 2019's peak, when 41.5 million people traveled by vehicle on Independence Day, according to the American Automobile Association.
Including air travel, 47.9 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home during the holiday period, just 2 percent less than 2019's 49 million, but surpassing 2021's levels, the travel membership organization said.
The average U.S. retail price of gasoline recently broke through $5 per gallon for the first time in history, AAA said Tuesday. The current average is $4.96
Researchers argued in a 2021 report that congestion has been building in the US month-by-month since the pandemic (Pictured: Philadelphia rush hour traffic in April 2019)
A graph shows a steep drop in traffic during the pandemic and the steady increase in 2021
'The volume of travelers we expect to see over Independence Day is a definite sign that summer travel is kicking into high gear,' said Paula Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel. 'Earlier this year, we started seeing the demand for travel increase and it´s not tapering off.'
Through April 2022, 1.017 trillion vehicle miles were reported, a rate that trails only 2019 and 2018 in terms of pace, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Travel chaos also continued in the air on the first official day of summer, as 222 flights were already canceled by 12 p.m. EST Tuesday amid
