Utahns to hit the road for Memorial Day weekend

SALT LAKE CITY — Cab driver Ali Hussen doesn't expect much rest or recreation this weekend.

He'll run to and from Salt Lake City International Airport, shuttling travelers throughout the Memorial Day holiday.

"It'll be busy," Hussen said. "People come from in all over for the holiday. I know I'll make money."

More than 200,000 residents in the western United States plan to travel this weekend by plane — a 4.7 percent increase from last year.

In all, an estimated 2.5 million residents in the Mountain West — Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — plan to travel 50 or more miles, according to a survey for AAA. That's a 7.6 percent increase from the 2009 Memorial Day weekend.

Nationally, travel is up 5.4 percent.

For Utah, this is the first year Memorial Day travel is on the rise in three years. The numbers of people traveling over Memorial Day decreased in 2008 and '09.

It could be a sign that Utahns feel optimistic about their economic futures.

"People here have put off traveling for a while, and they're ready to get out and get away," said Rolayne Fairclough, AAA Utah spokeswoman. "We probably feel better here about our personal incomes, too."

Gas prices may also play into people's decisions to travel. On Wednesday, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Utah was $3.07. That's actually cheaper than it was two weeks ago, when it cost $3.14 a gallon.

The national average is $2.78 a gallon.

"Demand is still low compared to vehicle miles traveled," Fairclough said. "We still have incredibly robust supplies in the system. Those indicators point to the price."

Isis Ahchong of Bountiful said she will not be traveling this weekend. Ahchong just returned from an eight-month Army deployment in Camp Taji and Al Asad, Iraq.

"I just want to hang out with my family," she said.

For Utahns who plan to take road rips, the Utah Department of Transportation has an interactive summer construction map at www.udot.utah.gov/knowwhereknowwhy/.