AAA expects 1.42M Ohioans to travel for the July 4th holiday

CLEVELAND (AP) — Auto club AAA is forecasting that 17 percent more Americans will be traveling for the Fourth of July this year, including 1.42 million Ohioans.

Jim Lehman, the regional AAA executive vice presidents, says the double-digit increase in holiday travel is expected because of a gradual turnaround in the economy from last year. He says tough economic conditions in 2009 had people opting to stay home for Independence Day.

The auto club says most of Ohio’s holiday travelers — 1.31 million — will drive to their destinations for the long Fourth of July weekend, defined as July 1-5. Another 34,500 expect to fly, and 76,000 will use other forms of transportation such as buses, boats and trains.

AAA’s projections are based on research from Boston-based IHS Global Insight.