Thanksgiving Travel Expected to Hit 12-Year High
The number of Americans traveling this Thanksgiving is expected to hit a 12-year high, according to AAA.
More than 50 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more which is a 3.3 percent increase compared to last year.
In the Washington D.C. area, at least 20 percent of residents are expected to travel and experts said be prepared for delays in traffic.
“With 45.5 million people, including nine out of ten local holiday travelers, traveling by car over the Thanksgiving weekend, try to avoid traveling through major cities during peak travel times,” said John Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs. “Travel delays will surge by a factor of two along the top ten traffic hotspots in the Washington metro area during the holiday getaway, which is especially the case on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, during the 4:45 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. rush hours.”
AAA also projects that drivers will pay the highest gas prices during the holiday since 2014. The national average for Nov. 1 through the 14th is $2.54, 37 cents more than the whole month of November in 2016. The
Thanksgiving holiday travel period is defined as Wednesday, Nov. 22 to Sunday, Nov 26, according to AAA.
45.5 million Americans will take a road trip for #Thanksgiving #travelforecast https://t.co/zmqQFSXI16 pic.twitter.com/nRxvS6jAaa
— AAA Mid-Atlantic (@AAAMidAtlantic) November 16, 2017
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