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Gas Prices Causing Travelers To Skimp For Holiday Weekend

MARTINEZ (CBS SF) - The official start of the summer travel season is almost here, and a lot of Bay Area drivers will likely be hitting the road this Memorial Day holiday weekend, but they may not be traveling as far as in the past.

"We're predicting over 4.2 million Californians to be traveling beginning Thursday morning through Monday evening, the day of Memorial Day," said AAA spokeswoman Cynthia Harris. In fact, her agency's survey found that many drivers will be cutting corners - on expenses. "People are spending less on entertainment and are traveling considerably closer to home than they were in past years."

"This is due in part to the volatility in gas prices," she reasoned.

She expects that other holiday travelers will be using trains, buses and boats to get around, representing an increase of nearly 12% over last year.

KCBS' Dave Padilla Reports:

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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