Record July 4 Travel Expected Despite Rising Fuel Prices

Travel in the United States this upcoming Independence Day weekend will be busier than ever despite high fuel prices, travel and automobile group AAA said on Tuesday.

Some 40.7 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more this weekend, a 1.2 percent increase from last year, according to AAA´s travel survey.

The agency also said it sees car travel up 1.3 percent on the biggest vacation travel weekend of the summer, with 34.3 million motorists filling the highways.

The boost in travel comes despite soaring gasoline prices, running at an average of $2.86 a gallon, or about 65 cents higher than a year ago.

AAA estimated 31.4 million cars hit the road for Memorial Day weekend.

Historically, high gas prices alone don´t tend to stop people from traveling, but they are beginning to see car travel getting hit by the ongoing fuel situation.