AAA predicts drop in summer car travel

Cars: Good design or bad?
The travel industry is looking for new ways to drum up business.
MPR Photo/Marianne Combs

A new survey shows Americans are driving less to cope with high gas prices.

AAA's nationwide survey found that car travel has already dropped to historic lows. March of 2008 was the first month since 1980 that saw a decline in the number of vehicle miles traveled.

AAA is predicting this trend will continue throughout the summer vacation season.

Gail Weinholzer, spokesperson for AAA Minnesota-Iowa, says she expects the July Fourth holiday to be down about one and a half percent over last year at the same time.

She says the travel industry is looking for new ways to drum up business.

"If you are looking for last minute deals, some hotels are doing free breakfast, they are doing gas cards and that sort of thing. If you are looking for deals, especially the last minute kind, it may not be a bad time to travel at all, especially locally," Weinholzer said.

July and August have traditionally been the heaviest months of the year for auto-travel.

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