High gas prices not expected to impact holiday travel

Sure, gasoline prices are high compared to a year ago, but it’s not keeping Iowans from hitting the road for the first weekend of the summer season. Triple-A-Iowa spokeswoman Gail Weinholzer says the motor club is predicting an increase in Memorial Day weekend travelers from last year of more than two-percent. Weinholzer says last year, there were just over 35-million travelers nationwide going at least 50 miles from home during the holiday. This year, 37-million are expected to be on the roads, most of them going by personal automobile. She says a vast majority of us will be riding in our cars, trucks, vans and S-U-Vs. About 85-percent of us are traveling in personal automobiles, the rest are flying, taking trains, buses and other modes of transportation. Weinholzer says gasoline prices are not forcing Iowans to stay at home for the holiday. She says prices are about 25-to-30 cents higher than they were a year ago but obviously projections still show more people will be traveling than last year. Weinholzer says people may be making adjustments like staying in less expensive hotels or staying with friends. The national average for a gallon of self-service unleaded gas is now two-dollars-12-cents a gallon, while in Iowa, it’s a dollar-99.