Taking a trip? The number of people traveling this Fourth of July weekend will be down, but only slightly.
AAA Colorado is predicting around 690,000 Coloradans will journey 50 miles or more over the Fourth of July weekend, a 0.5 decrease from 2012. Unlike last year, gas prices are not a factor in the decline.
“We unfortunately sometimes see small increases right before a holiday, but I don’t think we’re going to see huge increases in gas prices for Fourth of July,” says AAA spokeswoman Wave Dreher. “Statewide I imagine we’ll be around 3.65 per gallon.”
Dreher says the most likely explanation is a shortened holiday period from six days last year to five days this year, with the Fourth of July falling on a Thursday. Nearly 80 percent of Coloradans heading out for the holiday will travel by car.
Nationwide, AAA projects 40.8 million Americans will travel over the holiday, a 0.8 decrease from 2012. Independence Day is typically the busiest holiday of the summer travel season with six million more Americans traveling than over Memorial Day weekend.