What a difference 50 years can make
Price at the pump*
2006: $2.80 a gallon
1956: 22 cents a gallon
Nightly hotel rates*
2006: $96.08
1956: $8.86
Top vacation spot
2006: Orlando
1956: Niagara Falls, N.Y.
* Prices are national averages
AAA is forecasting that a record 40.7
million Americans will hit the road this July 4th weekend,
traveling 50 miles or more, marking a 1.2% increase over 2005
travel.
About 34.3
million -- or 1.3% more than the same time last year -- will travel
by car, according to AAA, while another 4.6 million will travel by
airplane, about the same as last year.
AAA noted that
the holiday weekend, traditionally the busiest of the summer, will
kick off with a significant anniversary -- the 50th anniversary of
the Interstate Highway System.
On June 29, 1956,
President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act
creating the system which now stretches over 42,000 miles of road
through the 48 contiguous states. Part of the National Highway
System, it cost nearly $115 billion to build and was officially
completed in 1991.
As it developed
over the years, the interstate system has expedited commerce as
well as Americans ability to travel for both work and
vacations.
Vacation travel
has changed dramatically in the past 50 years, said Robert
Darbelnet, AAAs president and CEO, a fact that he added will be
made apparent over this holiday weekend, especially with the
addition of the myriad of highways, hotels, restaurants and
attractions that exist today.
Still, 22% of all
travelers are expected to head to the beach this holiday weekend,
followed by small towns and rural areas (21%); cities (19%); lake
areas (10%); and mountains (5%) to round out the top
five.
To contact
the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Michael
Milligan at [email protected].