Article by Mi Auto Times
Gas prices may be declining now, but for the weeks the prices increased, there had been a significant decrease in travel for individuals and their families. Fuel mileage and cost per gallon stopped billions of miles normally driven.DETROIT, M.I. – Fuel mileage available for a vehicle became as important as the price to fill up at the gas station has prices reached close to per gallon. It is true that prices are declining now, but for those weeks that gas prices were soaring, it hindered more travel than most probably would even consider.As the big celebration weekend is coming for July 4th, Triple A has forecasted that the 40 million people who travel 50 miles or more from their homes will drop 2.5 percent to 39 million people.”Triple A is projecting a slight decline in the number of Independence Day travelers mainly due to fuel prices being approximately one dollar per gallon higher than last year,” said Glen MacDonell, director, Triple A Travel Services. “Increased fuel costs are also responsible for a shift in the demographics of the typical Independence Day traveler as higher prices impact lower income households more significantly.”The first four months of 2011 showed a decrease of 0.8 percent, which translates to 7.1 billion miles, while in April alone travel fell 2.4 percent or 6.1 billion miles. March had a loss of 3.5 billion miles, which was after January and February started to pick up when fuel mileage was not as important as the next few months would prove it to be. The North-Central region of the U.S., including Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, was the most affected by the travel drop in April with 3.5 percent less driving. Based on figures from the past two years, visitors who visit Michigan spend on average a total of .1 billion. At this point there is no definitive impact on what less travel or fuel mileage means for the economy in Michigan or other states, but decreasing gas prices may help the travel rate.MI Auto Times covers all Michigan automotive news all the time, featuring newly released vehicle recall information, relevant Michigan automaker news, vehicle ratings and comparisons, and everything else auto-related Michigan and world readers need to know.Got a hot tip? Send your news tips to news@miautotimes.com or connect with us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MichiganAutoTimes.
[Source(s): The Detroit News]
