IRVING, Texas (July 2, 2012)—Nearly 3 million Texans will travel to celebrate the Fourth of July, AAA-Texas says.

Because the holiday falls on a Wednesday this year, AAA-Texas defined the holiday travel period as Tuesday through Sunday.

The organization predicts that 54 percent of the travelers already left over the weekend and the remaining 46 percent will leave Monday through Wednesday.

Most of the 2.98 million Texans who will travel this week will go by vehicle.

The group found that 2.5 million will travel by automobile, 276,000 will travel by air and 217,000 will travel by other means, including trains, buses and cruise ships.

AAA-Texas said a recent decline in gas prices may have encouraged more people to travel.

The statewide average price for gas is $3.20 for a gallon of regular unleaded