Thanksgiving Travel Forecast

More than 880,000 Marylanders are expected to be on the road and traveling more than 50 miles round trip over the Thanksgiving holiday. The number of Marylanders traveling 50 miles or more round trip between Wednesday and Sunday is forecast to be “virtually flat” compared to last year. Ragina Averella, Manager of Public and Government Affairs at AAA Mid-Atlantic commented, “While Marylanders join Americans across the country in remaining cautious with household budgets and discretionary spending during the continued sluggish economic recovery, our forecast shows that many Marylanders are steep in tradition to spend Thanksgiving Day with family and friends.”

Marylanders will travel an average of 529 miles, slightly less than the national average of 589 miles. Despite higher gas prices compared to 2011, 91% of Marylanders who will travel, will go by car.

Nationwide, AAA forecasts 43.6 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home over the Thanksgiving weekend, a small increase of 0.7% over 2011.

Wednesday is expected to be the busiest travel day. Among those surveyed, the majority of travelers plan to leave the Wednesday (45 percent) and return the following Sunday (36 percent) with another 25 percent expecting to return on Monday, Nov. 26. Nationally, approximately 90 percent of travelers, or 39.1 million people, plan to travel by automobile this Thanksgiving. This is a small 0.6% increase over last year.

View the AAA Mid Atlantic News Release here.

Link to AAA National Thanksgiving Travel Forecast

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