The Fourth of July is fast approaching, and if you have travel plans this year, AAA East Central is advising motorists to prepare for record-breaking travel numbers this year.

According to a press release, AAA East Central projects that 50.7 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more away from home setting a record for the holiday. The previous record of around 49 million travelers was set in 2019.

Domestic travel will increase by 2.1 million people compared to 2022. AAA East Central Senior Vice President, Bevi Powell says no matter what method of travel you use, be sure to have patience.

"More and more Americans are making travel a priority, and in fact, this will be the highest projected holiday for air travel in 20 years," Powell said.

Additionally, AAA predicts a new record for car travel too with 43.2 million people expected to drive to their destinations. That's a 2.4% increase from 2022 and 4% higher than 2019.

A big reason for this travel increase is gas prices being well below what they were last year. The national average around this time last year was $4.80 per gallon compared to now where it's between $3.50 and $3.60 per gallon.

As for air travel, AAA projects 4.17 million Americans will fly to their destinations. That's an 11.2% increase over 2022 and 6.6% increase over 2019, when the previous air travel record was set. 

Other modes of transportation like buses, cruise ships and trains are expected to increase too with AAA expecting 3.36 million people to travel by any of these modes this year. A 24% increase from 2022.

However, this number is not expected to surpass 2019's total of 3.54 million.