Jul 3, 2008 7:36 pm US/Pacific
Southland Residents Hit The Road For The Holiday
LOS ANGELES
Southland residents will be heading out of town for the Fourth of July by planes trains and automobiles, as the holiday getaway gets in full swing on Thursday.
More than 3 million Southern Californians are expected to take trips this weekend, down less than 1 percent from 2007's number of travelers, even though gas prices average about $4.60 a gallon, the Automobile Club of Southern California reported.
According to the Auto Club, 3.029 million Southern California residents will be traveling this week, about 80 percent of them by car. About 420,000 people are expected to travel by plane.
"Our record gas prices clearly are affecting travel for the second holiday in a row, but not by a significant amount," said Auto Club spokesman Jeffrey Spring.
"This trend of a slight decline is confirmed in a separate survey of Auto Club members showing that three-quarters of our members plan to take at least the same number of summer trips as they did in 2007, and nine out of 10 of our members will take at least one overnight trip this summer."
Southern California travelers are projected to head to San Diego, Las Vegas, the Central Coast, national parks and San Francisco.
Airline passengers will hope for an easier day at Los Angeles International Airport than they had on Wednesday, when a man claimed to be a terrorist with a bomb. The threat shut down the upper and lower airport roadway for about three hours as police inspected the man's bag.
No explosives were found, but an estimated 131 flights -- inbound and outbound -- were delayed between 30 minutes to two hours.
LAX officials said they do not compile airline passenger estimates for the Fourth of July weekend. They estimated earlier this year that 19.6 million people would pass through the airport between Memorial Day and Sept. 8.
Travelers are urged to take advantage of the FlyAway bus service from Union Station, Van Nuys and Westwood to avoid hassles at LAX.
Passengers are advised to arrive three hours early for international flights and two hours early for domestic flights. Up-to-date traffic, parking, security and terminal condition information is available at AirRadio 530 AM at LAX, and at AirRadio 770 AM at LA/Ontario International Airport.
Infrequent travelers can also check the Transportation Security Administration's Web site, www.tsa.gov, for the latest information on prohibited items for checked luggage and carry-on bags.
Those heading to Northern and Central California are advised to keep themselves updated on wildfire conditions. The California Highway Information Number is (800) 427-7623.
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