WASHINGTON -- The number of Americans driving and flying over the Memorial Day holiday weekend is expected to rise only slightly this year as consumers respond to the rising cost of airfares, hotel rooms and motor fuel, according to travel agency AAA.

AAA said 37.6 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more, or about 1 percent more than last year -- an estimate derived from a national phone survey of 1,500 adults. More than 80 percent of those travelers will take road trips, while another 10 percent will fly. The remainder will be packed into trains and buses.

The number of Memorial Day travelers had risen by more than 2 percent in each of the past two years, after remaining flat in 2003 and declining marginally in 2002.

The average retail price of gasoline is $2.93 a gallon, or 36 percent higher than a year ago, and that appears to be having some impact on fuel consumption, according to Energy Department statistics.

-- Associated Press