The American Automobile Association (AAA) estimates that 41.5 million Americans will travel during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.[1]
That figure includes 36.6 million who are traveling by car.
Those drivers will pay an average of $2.93 per gallon for gas, the highest prices since 2014. However, that's far below the peak of $4.11 reached in 2008.
An earlier Number of the Day highlighted the reason that gas prices have fallen so much in the past decade: the development of American shale oil resources doubled U.S. oil production between 2008 and 2015. After decades of dependence upon foreign oil, fracking technology has put the United States on track to become a net exporter of energy within four years.
Regardless of the cost of oil, most Americans (53 percent ) expect Memorial Day traffic will look much different within a decade as self-driving cars become common.
- AAA, "Nearly 42 Million Americans Will Kick Off Summer with a Memorial Day Getaway," May 14, 2018
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology. Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
Scott Rasmussen is founder and president of the Rasmussen Media Group. He is the author of "Mad as Hell: How the Tea Party Movement Is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System," "In Search of Self-Governance," and "The People’s Money: How Voters Will Balance the Budget and Eliminate the Federal Debt." Read more reports from Scott Rasmussen — Click Here Now.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.