If you’re planning to travel by car over Labor Day, you’ll be on the road with an estimated 28.2 million other people, the AAA says.
Eighty-five percent of the 33 million people planning to travel over the holiday are driving, according to the AAA’s travel forecast, which refers to the number of people who say they’ll travel at least 50 miles between Thursday and Monday of the long weekend. Eight percent will travel by air, and 7 percent by other transportation, mostly trains, buses and cruises.
The number of people planning to travel is up slightly (2.9 percent) over 2011, as are the number of miles they expect to cover (626) and the amount of money they expect to spend ($749).
In the South Atlantic region, which includes Florida, people plan to travel shorter distances (an average of 483 miles) and spend more ($827). The region will have more than twice as many solo travelers as the national average.
The national average price of self-serve regular gasoline as of Aug. 13 was 10 cents a gallon higher than the same time last year, but it’s 22 cents less than April, when prices peaked, AAA says. The survey found gas prices won’t have much impact on travel plans. But that’s not surprising. Consider: If you’re planning to drive 500 miles — about the distance of a round-trip between Miami and Orlando — and your car gets 25 miles per gallon, you’ll burn 20 gallons of gas. That 10-cent difference over last year amounts to $2.
