By
NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON — People will be expressing their independence by traveling all across the U.S. this year.
"As we saw at Memorial Day, people are wanting to travel and are traveling in big numbers," said Shawn Steward with AAA Kansas. "AAA is projecting more than 47.7 million Americans will take to the nation's roadways and skies this Independence Day holiday weekend from July 1 to 5. Travel volumes are expected to nearly fully recover to pre-pandemic levels."
This is going to be the second-highest Independence Day travel volume on record, trailing only 2019.
"We're looking at, overall, just 2.5% fewer Americans are expected to travel this year compared to Independence Day in 2019," Steward said. "This represents an increase of nearly 40% compared to last year, when total travel fell to 34.2 million travelers."
Despite the highest gas prices in seven years, more than 91% of holiday travel will be by car.