Marylanders Heading Home To Higher Prices At The Pump After Holiday Weekend

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Millions of Americans are heading home from their holiday destinations, and it seems travel this Fourth of July may have hit their wallet and patience a little harder.

Marcus Washington reports gas prices hit a new high for this time of year.

In celebration of the Fourth of July holiday weekend, thousands of Marylanders took to the roads to get to their destination.

"Certainly, significantly more than this same time last year," said Ragina Cooper-Averella, AAA Mid-Atlantic.

Averella says while gas prices dropped a penny from last week, they're still at a six year high for this time of year. The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded stands at about $3.67 a gallon.

"Despite that fact, many, many Americans--and Marylanders in particular--were traveling by auto. So they probably will be contending with some traffic as they make the trek back home from their holiday destinations," Averella said.

After a long weekend of fun, long lines of traffic are what most people are dealing with. Nationwide, nearly 35 million people hit the road for the holiday weekend.

Averella says a record breaking 828,000 Marylanders were estimated to drive or fly 50 miles or more from home this weekend.

That's up 1.6 percent from last year and up 44 percent from 2009, which was the height of the great recession. That year, holiday travel for the Fourth of July hit a low from previous years.

Still, many drivers tell WJZ escaping the city is worth paying a little more at the pump.

"It gets kind of crowded when everyone comes in to see the fireworks, so it's nice to actually leave the city," one man said.

The last time gas prices were this high was in 2008 when prices topped $4 a gallon.

Overall, more people were also flying to their holiday destinations despite higher airfare prices.

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