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AAA Expects More Memorial Day Weekend Travel This Year

By: Elliott Francis // May 25, 2011
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Lon Anderson of AAA Mid-Atlantic projects increased travel this Memorial Day Weekend.
Elliott Francis
Lon Anderson of AAA Mid-Atlantic projects increased travel this Memorial Day Weekend.

The Automobile Association of America for the Mid-Atlantic region predicts that 886,000 area residents will travel 50 miles or more during the holiday weekend, most of them by car.

That's an increase of nearly 12,000 travelers over the previous year, and those numbers were projected back in April. One month later, AAA's Lon Anderson says the actual number of travelers could be higher than they predicted.

"In the many years I've been with AAA this is the first time that we've seen gas prices go down before Memorial Day," Anderson said at a press conference Tuesday. "Always during Memorial Day, prices are about to peak, or their on their way up on Memorial Day."

Although motorists have been paying about a buck more per gallon than last year this time, prices in some parts of region, including Maryland, have been trending down in the past two weeks. Analysts predict the rest of the region could soon follow.

Some motorists also say they'll cut other expenses to save more for gas.

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