Fewer Labor Day travelers will fly or drive

Flying or driving to your destination? That’s so last century. This Labor Day, more Americans will hop on a motorcycle, take a train or bus or cruise to their destination, a new poll says. Even Southern Californians — at least, the four-wheeled sort — are pulling off the road.

The reasons: Credit the busting economy, high gas prices and airfares for the switch, said AAA, which issued its Labor Day travel forecast today. Or, I wonder, is ecology psychology finally taking hold? Are more travelers thinking green?

The numbers: Whatever the cause, 12.5% more of us will take alternative transport this Labor Day than last, AAA said. Even with this increase, only 1 out of 20 Americans will shun the plane or car.

The big picture: No big surprise. Fewer of us are traveling, period. AAA said 0.9% fewer Americans will get away for Labor Day this year than last year. Among modes of transportation, air travel takes the biggest hit, down 4.5%.

Southern California: This did surprise me. Travel by Southern Californians will drop even more, down 1.4% over last Labor Day. And compared with the national average (more than 83%), fewer will drive — 81%. Jeffrey Spring, spokesman for the Automobile Club of Southern California, which provided the regional figures, said he suspects California’s especially high gas prices, still averaging over $4 per gallon this week, may be part of the reason for the drop.

—Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Times Travel editor

[Illustration: Diane Bigda / For the Los Angeles Times]

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 22, 2008 at 12:32 pm by Jane Engle and is filed under Airline travel, California, Eco-Travel, Family & Kids, Rail Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.