AAA survey: People still taking summer trips despite gas prices | State and Regional News

Oklahoma motorists are still traveling in document quantities despite high gasoline costs and are slicing back shelling out in other regions in purchase to do so, in accordance to a new AAA survey.

“There is no overstating the pent-up demand to travel in the wake of COVID,” AAA Oklahoma spokeswoman Leslie Gamble reported in a information release Wednesday.

“While gas charges will discourage some, these who still want to go are only reducing again in other places.”

The typical price tag for every gallon of gas in Oklahoma on Wednesday was $4.50, after a file-setting ordinary superior of $4.66 on June 15.

The new AAA poll of Oklahoma motorists details to three methods they are preserving income:

About 63% of Oklahoma drivers surveyed said they have altered their everyday driving behaviors since of gasoline selling prices. This is up due to the fact very last November, when the ordinary rate of fuel in Oklahoma was nearer to $2.90, 60 cents a lot less.

• Additional than 40% say they are consolidating or operating less errands.

• More than 59% say they are restricting their driving any way they can.

Only about 45% of Oklahoma drivers surveyed said they typically commute to get the job done.

Of all those who do usually commute:

• About 17% say they consider to get the job done from property extra normally.

• Only 8% say they carpool or trip share to do the job far more usually.

Some 57% of Oklahoma drivers producing summer months travel strategies say gas selling prices have factored into their preparing.

Of all those planning to vacation this summertime:

• About 28% say they are taking fewer trips since of gasoline price ranges.

• Some 14% say they are getting shorter trips because of fuel price ranges.

• And 18% say they are altering their journey finances for eating or lodging because of gas selling prices.

Of take note, AAA claimed, 71% of those people 25 to 39 a long time old mentioned they have adjusted their every day driving behaviors because of fuel price ranges, a lot more than Oklahoma poll respondents over-all. Additional than 60% of people in this age group say they have possibly canceled or not created strategies for a summer season street journey thanks to the higher price of gas.

But AAA claimed folks are even now taking street trips at a significant degree, “as evidenced by the website traffic on our roads this earlier (holiday getaway) weekend.”

Past 7 days, AAA Oklahoma approximated that additional than 510,000 Oklahomans would travel about the Independence Day holiday getaway period, which it considers to be Thursday by Monday this year.

A lot more than 80% of travelers — much more than 410,000 Oklahomans — were predicted to hit the roadways for the holiday, irrespective of in the vicinity of document-large gasoline charges, AAA said.

Gamble explained that as of Wednesday, AAA did not but have any preliminary figures indicating regardless of whether the range of vacationers was up or down from final week’s projections.

The AAA study of 638 people in Oklahoma was done June 17-18 by Community Coverage Polling. The study has a margin of error of +/- 3.9 proportion factors.