Auto Club Predicts Slightly Fewer Drivers for Fourth of July Holiday

Florham Park-based AAA New Jersey Automobile Club says that Independence Day travel is still a popular tradition in the Garden State. 

A club statement said it expects 1.2 million New Jerseyans to travel 50 miles or more from home during the Fourth of July holiday this year. That figure is 0.4 percent below the 2012 holiday travel figure, but the decrease is smaller than both the 0.8 percent national and 0.7 regional decreases.

“New Jerseyans are ready for a vacation this summer,” said New Jersey AAA spokesperson Cathleen Lewis.  “Much of it is pent-up desire from the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and whether it’s a desire to help the Shore rebuild or take a break from the pressures of rebuilding, New Jerseyans are determined to get away this summer.” 

As to how Garden Staters will make their sweet escape, AAA projects that 83.7 percent will drive, 7.5 percent will fly, 8.6 percent will travel via railroad.

The club attributes some of the anticipated decline in holiday travel to a shorter holiday period. The Fourth of July falls on a Thursday this year, giving many people a five-day holiday period. Last year, Independence Day was on a Wednesday and allowed, for some, a six-day break.

The organization said the nation's highest holiday travel volume in the last decade came in in 2007, when the Fourth fell on a Wednesday: 42.3 million U.S. residents traveled more than 50 miles from home for the holiday that year.