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AAA Forecasts High Number Of Travelers For Memorial Day Holiday Weekend

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AAA forecasts 41.5 million people nationwide will travel this Memorial Day weekend, a nearly 5 percent increase over last year and the most in more than a dozen years.

AAA's annual travel forecast shows millions of people are expected to take a trip this Memorial Day weekend.

AAA projections suggest this weekend will see the highest number of travelers since 2005.

Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas says one reason for the increase is the economy overall is in good shape.

"People are feeling pretty confident about their personal situation, so when that’s the case, more people have that discretionary budget to hit the roads and get out and enjoy the start of summer," he says.

Gas costs about $2.71 a gallon in Kansas this week. That's up about 50 to 55 cents from a year ago, but Steward says Kansas prices are still the ninth-lowest in the nation. The last time Kansas drivers paid this price was in 2014.

Steward says the majority of this year's Memorial Day journeys -- about 9 in 10 nationally -- will be road trips, "so we’re reminding people to make sure their vehicles are ready.

"Some simple yet important car maintenance, especially with batteries, important engine systems and tires, can prevent you from being stranded during your road trip."

TRAVEL FORECAST

  • 41.5 million – The number of Americans nationwide who will journey away from home this Memorial Day travel weekend, a nearly 5 percent increase over last year and the most in more than a dozen years.
  • 3.5 million – Number of people in the West North Central Region (which includes Kansas, along with Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska and South Dakota) who will take Memorial Day weekend trips, a 4.4 percent increase over 2017 and the largest number of travelers since 2005.
  • 88 – Percent of all travelers nationally – 36.6 million – who are planning a driving road trip this Memorial Day weekend, an increase of 4.7 percent over last year.

GAS PRICES

  • 2014 – Last year that drivers faced Memorial Day gas prices as high as this year.
  • $2.93 – National gas price average as of Monday. That's 17 cents more than one month ago and 57 cents more than a year ago.
  • $2.16 – Average gas price in Kansas one year ago

Follow Deborah Shaar on Twitter @deborahshaar. To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.

Deborah joined the news team at KMUW in September 2014 as a news reporter. She spent more than a dozen years working in news at both public and commercial radio and television stations in Ohio, West Virginia and Detroit, Michigan. Before relocating to Wichita in 2013, Deborah taught news and broadcasting classes at Tarrant County College in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area.