High gasoline prices aren’t expected to deter travelers from getting out of the city to celebrate the long Fourth of July weekend.
The cost of regular, self-serve hit $2.22 in the District yesterday, up 11 cents since Memorial Day weekend and 27 cents from a year ago. The national average is also $2.22, up 5 cents since a week ago and 29 cents from a year ago. Though prices are near record levels, there is plenty of gas to go around.
More than 619,000 people in the District and surrounding counties — 13 percent of the local population — are expected to travel more than 50 miles this weekend, according to estimates by AAA Mid-Atlantic. Ninety-two percent of travelers are expected to fill up the gas tank and pack up the car to get to their destination.
New York resident Rebecca Scarpati had a head start on July 4 travel, as she headed into the District to pick up her son from camp yesterday. She stopped for gas at the Exxon Mobil station at 22nd and M streets in Northwest, where a gallon of regular fuel cost $2.40.
“Before, I would just go somewhere. Now, I have to factor in how much it’s going to cost,” she said.
It cost D.C. resident S. Mia $25 to fill up the tank of his Honda, “and it’s not even a full tank,” he said.
“Gas prices make it very hard to travel,” he said.
Still, most of the area’s residents can afford the rising prices, said John Townsend, AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman. A 1,000-mile trip would cost a traveler $30 more in gas now than last year.
“It’s not enough to be a deal breaker,” he said.
Maryland resident Miriam Galston’s recent trip to Europe, where Britain’s fuel prices are currently the equivalent of $5.87 a gallon, allowed her to put a positive spin on paying $2.40 for a gallon of regular yesterday.
“Obviously I don’t like paying this much at the pump, just like everybody else” Ms. Galston said. “But globally, we’re not paying too much.”
AAA’s July 4 travel estimate is higher than the 590,000 metro-area residents who the organization estimated traveled at Thanksgiving — the historic record-holder for holiday travel, according to Mr. Townsend.
He attributes the increase to more people taking long-weekend vacations instead of week-long vacations that were more popular in the past.
“Americans are traveling more, but more are traveling light. Now we’re taking advantage of three-day holidays,” he said.
This summer’s travel season is expected to be better than in years past. AAA estimates 33.9 million Washington-area residents will take vacations by car, a 2.6 percent increase over last year.
Mr. Townsend attributed the increase in the number of travelers partly to the overall increase in the area’s population, which acquired 75,000 more residents last year to a total of 5.9 million, according to the U.S. Census, which uses a broader definition of the area than AAA.
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