LOS ANGELES, May 28 (UPI) -- The long Memorial Day holiday weekend was under way Saturday, with highways across the United States expected to be jammed despite higher gasoline prices.
Fuel prices are the highest ever recorded for a holiday, yet a record 37.2 million Americans were expected to travel during the holiday period, the Christian Science Monitor reported.
Jerry Taylor, director of natural resource studies for the Cato Institute in Washington, said after adjusting for inflation and rises in average income, however, gasoline is taking less than half the bite from a household budget than in decades past.
"The dollar price of gas looks way higher than it did in the 1950s, 1970s, and 1980s," Taylor told the Monitor, "but the rise in American incomes has been so much greater that you are not going to see that much behavioral change in driving habits as a result."
Justin McNaull of the Automobile Association of America said many motorists will compensate for the cost of fuel by shortening their trips or cutting amenities, such as nice dinners or expensive entertainment.
Many experts predict this will be a record summer for travel, both at home and abroad. Analysts told the Monitor Americans are just now overcoming their reservations about travel produced by the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
