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										<img title="Image: http://www.myvivvo.com/thumbnail.php?file=alabama_gas_3.03_588546442.jpg&amp;size=article_medium" src="http://www.myvivvo.com/thumbnail.php?file=alabama_gas_3.03_588546442.jpg&amp;size=article_medium" alt="Holiday travelers paying more for gas">
										
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								<span>Gas prices rise again and force some holiday drivers to stay off the roads. Travel expected to lessen for first time since 2002.<br><br>NEW
 YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Drivers marking the start of summer holiday 
travel season this weekend are really paying for it at the pump.<br><br>The price of gasoline rose for the 20th straight day to less than a dime shy of $4, motorist organization AAA reported Monday.<br><br>According
 to AAA, the national average price for a gallon of regular gas rose to a
 record high of $3.936, up six-tenths of a cent from the previous high 
of $3.930.<br><br>What a difference a year makes: Last Memorial Day weekend, drivers paid an average of $3.23 a gallon.<br><br>Indeed, as gas prices have surged, some drivers have pulled back.<br><br>The
 U.S. Federal Highway Administration said Monday it estimates that 
Americans drove 4.3% fewer miles on public roads in March. The change - 
the first year-over-year March decline since 1979 - continues an overall
 drop in driving that began last November, the agency said.<br><br>According
 to AAA, for the first time since 2002, Americans said they were 
planning to drive less over the Memorial Day weekend than they did the 
year before.<br><br>The number of Americans traveling 50 or more miles 
from home this holiday weekend was expected to slip by 0.9% to 37.87 
million, the motorist group forecast recently.<br><br>"Most people are going to travel closer to home this year, and they're going to take fewer trips," said AAA spokesman Mike Pina.<br><br>&nbsp;<br><br>iReport.com: Share your stories from the pump<br><br>Among
 the estimated 12% of Americans who will be traveling this weekend, AAA 
said 31.7 million people, or 83%, are expected to drive. That's slightly
 fewer than the 32 million Memorial Day drivers a year ago.<br><br>The 
AAA survey was conducted during the last week of April, when gas was at 
$3.50 a gallon. Now, drivers in 11 states and the District of Columbia 
are paying an average above $4 per gallon.<br><br>A Deloitte &amp; 
Touche survey of more than 1,000 Americans conducted May 12-14 found 
that, as a result of the rise in gas prices, 23% of Americans had 
altered their Memorial Day weekend travel plans.<br><br>Deloitte &amp; 
Touche found that 12% of would-be travelers had cancelled their vacation
 plans altogether, and 11% planned on traveling closer to home.<br><br>The
 average traveler is expected to drive 91 miles to and from home this 
weekend, according to the Deloitte &amp; Touche survey. The average car 
gets 20.2 miles per gallon, according to the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, so that 91-mile trip will cost drivers $34.92. Last 
year, that same trip would have cost $29.10.<br><br>Air travel will give
 vacationers no respite from high fuel costs: For the 11% of travelers 
who planned on flying, the price of a ticket was expected to be 8% 
higher than it was last year. Most U.S. air carriers have announced fuel
 surcharges this spring.<br><br>Much of the run-up in gasoline can be attributed to record crude oil prices, which have more than doubled over the past year.</span>
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