A record number of holiday travelers is expected, says AAA

More Americans than ever will be traveling for the 4th of July, according to AAA.

“Nearly 49 million people are going to be traveling over the Independence Day holiday,” said Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas. “That’s the most that we’ve seen for this holiday since we began tracking holiday travel in 2000. We’re looking at an increase from last year of more than 4%.”

Travel should be particularly strong ahead of the holiday.

“We’re anticipating the busiest travel day being Wednesday, July 3rd,” said Steward. “Be aware of that. A lot of people will be getting off work early headed out for the holiday, headed to the lake or wherever they plan to travel.”

It should be easier for people to afford a trip as well, especially if they’re driving.

“Gas prices are quite a bit less, about 20 cents less, in fact, about 20 cents less than we saw a year ago at this time,” said Steward.”People are going to be able to save a little bit of money in terms of their travel costs. In Kansas, the average right now is $2.46 a gallon.”

That’s 20 cents lower than the national average and 13th cheapest among the states.