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3 Million Southern Californians Expected To Travel On Fourth Of July Weekend

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Southern Californians will be celebrating their freedom to travel this Independence Day weekend, which is expected to be the biggest travel weekend on record, according to Auto Club.

More than 3 million Southern California residents will take an Independence Day vacation this year – a 1.3 percent increase over the 2015 Independence Day weekend, the Automotive Club of Southern California said in a statement.

Eighty percent of Southern California travelers, or 2.41 million, are expected to hit the road – an increase of 1 percent from last year's 2.39 million car travelers. Another 375,000 are expected to travel by air – an increase of 3 percent from 2015, when 364,000 Southern Californians flew the friendly skies.

Statewide, more than 4.9 million are expected to travel over the Independence Day holiday, a 1.3 percent increase from last year, with 3.9 million going by car, up 1 percent from 2015, and 605,000 by air, up 3 percent. It's apparently a national trend – AAA says Fourth of July travel will increase by 1.3 percent to 42.9 million from last year's 42.3 million.

"Lower gas prices have put some more disposable income in travelers' budgets and have also lowered average airfares, encouraging more trips this holiday season and throughout the summer," said Filomena Andre, the Auto Club's vice president for travel products and services. "We're also seeing more travelers willing to spend a little extra on credit with a growth in consumer confidence."

Gas prices are now on the rise toward $3 a gallon in Southern California, but for most of the year they have been well below $3 a gallon and are currently about 60 cents lower on average than at this time in 2015 and $1.20 lower than the 2014 July Fourth holiday.

According to a survey of AAA Travel agents, the top five destinations for Southern Californians this holiday are, in the following order, San Diego, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Yosemite.

(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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