By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-796997.mp3
Dallas, TX – Thanksgiving travel is down this year for the first time since 2002. But, KERA's BJ Austin says for those who are hitting the "road" it's costing a lot less than last year.
Triple-A says 41 million Americans plan to travel 50 miles or more from home this Thanksgiving. That's down 1.4% from last year. In Texas, more than three million people have holiday travel plans but that's not as many as last year - even though gassing-up costs HALF of what it did Labor Day. Dan Ronan, with Triple A, says the average price of a gallon of gas dropped more than a dime last week.
Ronan: We've seen a drop of about 12 cents; somewhere around a penny-and-a-half to two cents a day.
Average price statewide is a dollar-75 a gallon. Dallas and Fort Worth report 1.73. El Paso is most expensive, but under two dollars at 1.92. Amarillo has the cheapest gas, 1.67. So with the relative bargain at the pump why isn't travel UP this holiday weekend?
Ronan: A lot of that has to do with just the condition of the economy, and the fact that the economy has slowed.
Ronan says of the 3 million Texans traveling - 79% are driving.