Jul. 1--Thanksgiving gets all the attention, but the Fourth of July is actually the busiest time of year on America's highways.

With schools on vacation and state and federal work holidays, Americans have time to celebrate the nation's independence by driving.

This Fourth of July, travel club AAA predicts 37.1 million Americans will travel 50 miles or farther, a 1.9 percent decrease in travelers from last year's holiday.

Fourth of July travel is down 10.5 percent from 2007, when 42.3 million Americans went on vacation.

AAA officials think Fourth of July travel is down because Memorial Day weekend travel was up.

People have already had their taste of summer travel, said AAA spokeswoman Windy Van Curen in Richmond. Americans are worried about losing their jobs, and people are hanging onto their savings instead of taking a second trip, she said.

"They alleviated that pent-up demand on Memorial Day," Van Curen said. "We no longer have that pent-up demand for the Fourth of July."

TRAFFIC

The number of Virginians traveling this weekend -- slightly more than 1 million people, out of a state population of 7.8 million -- will be down 1.8 percent from last year's Fourth of July.

Nine in 10 Virginians who do travel will drive.

Interstate 95 between Washington and Richmond will be congested, just like any other holiday weekend, Van Curen said. Interstate 64 traffic between Richmond and Virginia Beach generally starts to slow around Williamsburg, she said.

Since Friday is a state and federal work holiday, Thursday afternoon on I-95 may look more like a standard Friday rush hour.

Expect lots of people to leave work early Thursday to squeeze in a 3-day holiday.

"They try to get that full day off, and don't want to spend it traveling in the car," Van Curen said.

After Thursday's early birds flee town, traffic will stay heavy most of Friday, and volume will increase again Sunday afternoon and evening as people return home, she said.

The Virginia Department of Transportation will suspend all road work from noon Thursday to noon Monday. Plus, all of the state's rest areas and welcome centers will be open for the holiday.

AIRFARE

Overall travel is down, but airports will be busy.

In Virginia, air travel for Fourth of July weekend is up 5.6 percent this year, and nationally 4.9 percent more travelers will be flying this weekend.

Lower ticket prices than last summer seems to be the main draw. The average domestic airfare for the Fourth of July is $169, according to AAA's Leisure Travel Index, which is 16 percent lower than last summer.