More Americans than ever recorded by AAA, nearly 49 million, are making plans to honor the red, white and blue with an Independence Day getaway this year. (AAA began tracking holiday travel in 2000.) Overall travel volume for the holiday is expected to rise 4.1 percent over last year, with an additional 1.9 million people planning road trips and other vacations to celebrate America’s birthday.

This trend holds true in the Garden State, as AAA Mid-Atlantic projects that almost 1.4 million people will take to the roads, skies, rails and waterways to enjoy family, friends, and fireworks; this is a 3.8 percent increase over last year’s forecast.  The Independence Day holiday period is defined as Wednesday, July 3 to Sunday, July 7.

Total Travel

• New Jersey, 1.4 million travelers are expected to travel for the July 4^th holiday period, a 3.8 percent increase over last year.
• Nationally, 48.9 million travelers are expected to travel this Independence Day, a 4.1 percent increase over 2018.

Automobile Travel

• New Jersey, 1.1 million (83 percent) will driver to their destination, an increase of 3.9 percent over 2018.
• Nationally, 41.4 million (85 percent) Americans will drive to their destinations, an increase of 4.3 percent over last year.

Air Travel

• New Jersey, 123.687 (9 percent) will be flying to their destination, an increase of 5.9 percent from 2018.
• Nationally, 3.9 million (8 percent) people are taking to the skies this Independence Day, increasing air travel by 5.3 percent over last year.

Other

• New Jersey, 110,554 (8 percent) will utilize other modes of transportation for their getaway, an increase of 0.6 percent over last year.
• Nationally, 3.5 million (7.2 percent) travelers, an increase of 0.6percent from 2018, will look to other modes of transportation, including cruises, trains and buses.

“As Independence Day approaches, it’s time for the much loved family road trip and this year will be one for the record books, with more Americans than ever planning vacations,” said Tracy Noble, spokesperson for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “This holiday builds on the strong travel demand seen for Memorial Day, and with schools now out of session across the country, families coast to coast are eager to travel.”

What’s causing the increase in travelers?

In addition to strong economic variables, the expected increase in travelers this year is helped by falling gas prices.  With today’s national average of $2.68, gas prices are 16 cents less year-over-year and expected to drop even lower into the summer. This is motivating record numbers of travelers to take road trips for the holiday weekend.

“Gas prices are, on average, 10-20-cents cheaper than Memorial Day weekend, which is welcome news for motorists hitting the road to celebrate the July Fourth holiday,” Noble added. “More so, summer gas prices are poised to continue dropping even lower in coming weeks.”