Less holiday travel by vehicle is expected from residents of the Pacific Coast states of Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii and Alaska over the coming Fourth of July holiday, despite a slight dip in fuel prices.
This year’s anticipated decline in automobile trips has more to do with the calendar, said Marie Dodds, a AAA spokeswoman. The July 4 holiday will land on a Thursday this year, as opposed to 2012’s Wednesday holiday, which encouraged more people to take most of the week off. AAA anticipates 6.3 million people — about 12.3 percent of the population in the five states — will travel 50 miles or more from home over the Independence Day weekend, down 0.7 percent from last year. According to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report, the average price of a gallon of regular gas in Vancouver is $3.82, down 16 cents from $3.98 a month ago and down from $3.85 at this time last year.
