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Fewer Area Residents Traveling for Labor Day

September 2, 2011
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According to mid-Atlantic AAA, fewer D.C. area residents are travelling for Labor Day than last year.
According to mid-Atlantic AAA, fewer D.C. area residents are travelling for Labor Day than last year.

John Townsend with Triple-A mid-Atlantic says 750,000 people in the area will travel 50 miles or more this weekend, a slight decrease compared with Labor Day weekend last year.

Townsend says high gas prices are likely to keep more people from taking family road trips.

"They understand they're now paying about 52 dollars for a tank of gas -- when this time last year they were paying about 34 dollars for that same tank of gas," says Townsend.

But it's not just the roads which will be less busy -- Townsend says for the first holiday weekend this summer, fewer people are flying compared with the previous year.

"Airfares have skyrocketed, not only because of changes in the industry, but also because of jetfuel prices," he says.

But the mode of transportation dropping most in popularity in terms of percentage: bus and rail. Townsend says just 29,000 people in the area have bought bus or rail tickets for the weekend, a 35 percent decline compared with last year.

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