Costly gas won’t mean empty roads

AAA says more drivers will hit the road this Labor Day, but increase will be smaller than usual.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – Drivers will still own the road this Labor Day, but the increase in car travel from a year ago is expected to be the smallest in about two years as gasoline prices hover near record highs, travel club AAA said Tuesday.

According to the group, 34.5 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home this holiday, up nearly 1 percent from the previous year. This is the smallest expected rise since Memorial Day 2003, when holiday travel began to rebound after the 9/11 attacks and the Iraq invasion, AAA said.
In 2004, Labor Day travel increased 2.4 percent over the previous year. In 2003, the rate of increase was 1.8 percent, the group said.

“Labor Day marks the end of an eventful and surprisingly strong summer travel season,” said Robert L. Darbelnet, President and CEO of AAA. “We’ve seen record-high gas prices, an early start to hurricane season, terror attacks in London, and continued weakness by the dollar, but Americans have traveled nonetheless.”

CNN/Money