![Summer has officially started and so have summer travel plans. About 2.4 million Floridians are expected to travel for the Fourth of July holiday weekend, up 6.3 percent from last year, according to AAA, The Auto Club Group. Pictured is traffic on I-275 in 2017. [LOREN ELLIOTT | Times, 2017]](https://www.tampabay.com/resizer/v2/summer-has-officially-started-and-so-have-J4KT4WGEQII6TKTRIBWI6S7HAY.jpg?auth=f20945c62b174347fa9a9b13968db6e2600e0d4b25b8dc91300c12d3a2c5887f&width=426 "Summer has officially started and so have summer travel plans. About 2.4 million Floridians are expected to travel for the Fourth of July holiday weekend, up 6.3 percent from last year, according to AAA, The Auto Club Group. Pictured is traffic on I-275 in 2017. [LOREN ELLIOTT | Times, 2017]")
Summer has officially started and so have summer travel plans. About 2.4 million Floridians are expected to travel for the Fourth of July holiday weekend, up 6.3 percent from last year, according to AAA, The Auto Club Group.
"We are already seeing a busy summer travel season and Independence Day will be no exception," said Vicky Evans, assistant vice president of travel sales development at AAA, in a release. "Consumers remain confident in the economy and have additional disposable income to put toward a summer getaway."
Most Floridians who are getting away for the weekend — 2.1 million — are expected to travel by car. July 3, AAA said, will likely be the heaviest traffic day of the holiday weekend.
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Contact this reporter at mcarollo@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2249. Follow @malenacarollo.
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