Gas slips, fewer July 4 travelers seen

The number of people traveling over the July 4 weekend expected to decline 1.3% from last year.

EMAIL  |   PRINT  |   SHARE  |   RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)
By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer

Which is the worst aspect of our dependence on oil?
  • Environmental damage
  • Lack of financial independence
  • National security

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Retail gas and diesel prices eased overnight, a daily survey by motorist group AAA showed Friday, but continued near-record prices are expected to curtail Americans' travel plans during the July 4 holiday weekend.

The national average price for a gallon of regular gas fell one-tenth of a cent to $4.066 from $4.067 the day before.

Gas prices are down 0.6 cent since the beginning of the week, but are still 3% higher than last month and about 37% higher than they were a year ago.

California has the highest gas prices in the nation. Drivers in the golden state pay $4.590 a gallon on average.

The second highest gas prices are in Alaska, where a gallon of gas costs $4.564 on average, followed by Hawaii at $4.418.

Missouri edged out Oklahoma for the title of state with the lowest gas prices. Drivers in Missouri pay $3.839 a gallon on average.

The survey also showed that the national average price for a gallon of diesel fuel fell four-tenths of a cent to $4.763 from $4.767 the previous day.

Cutting back on travel

AAA said it expects a decline in the number of Americans traveling during the Fourth of July holiday travel period.

The motorist group projects that 40.45 million drivers will travel during the holiday weekend. That's down 1.3% from the 41 million who traveled last year.

"Clearly gas prices are continuing to take a toll on the traveler's budget," said AAA President and CEO Robert L. Darbelnet in a statement.

Still, more than 13% of the U.S. population will be on the road this holiday weekend, according to AAA. And more than 34.2 million Americans, nearly 85% of all holiday travelers, intend to travel by automobile, a 1.2% decrease from 34.6 million people last year.

Approximately 4.54 million Americans expect to travel by airplane, down 2.3% from the 4.64 million last year. Nearly 1.7 million plan to travel by train, bus or other mode of transportation, AAA reported.  To top of page

Features
They're hiring!These Fortune 100 employers have at least 350 openings each. What are they looking for in a new hire? More
If the Fortune 500 were a country...It would be the world's second-biggest economy. See how big companies' sales stack up against GDP over the past decade. More
Sponsored By:
10 of the most luxurious airline amenity kits When it comes to in-flight pampering, the amenity kits offered by these 10 airlines are the ultimate in luxury More
7 startups that want to improve your mental health From a text therapy platform to apps that push you reminders to breathe, these self-care startups offer help on a daily basis or in times of need. More
5 radical technologies that will change how you get to work From Uber's flying cars to the Hyperloop, these are some of the neatest transportation concepts in the works today. More


Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.