[ad_1]
Prepare yourselves. Thanksgiving will see 54.3 million people move more than 50 kilometers from home, an increase of 4.8% over last year.
This is the highest volume of Thanksgiving travelers since 2005, with 2.5 million more people using the country's roads, skies, rails and waterways compared to last year, according to a survey by AAA.
Most of them – 48.5 million – will travel to destination, an increase of 5% over last year, says INRIX, a global mobility analysis company. Although gasoline prices have dropped in recent weeks, drivers will still be paying the highest gas prices on Thanksgiving weekend in three years, AAA said. Even in this case, travel times in the most congested cities could be four times longer than normal travel.
The Thanksgiving holiday period is defined from Wednesday, November 21st to Sunday, November 25th.
"Consumers have a lot to be grateful for this holiday season: higher wages, higher disposable income and growing household wealth," said Bill Sutherland, senior vice president of AAA Travel, in a statement. "This translates to more travelers starting the holiday season with a Thanksgiving getaway, building on a positive year for the travel industry."
Airlines will see 4.27 million travelers, a leap of 5.4%, representing the largest growth in holiday travel.
Trains, buses and cruise ships are expected to accommodate 1.48 million passengers, an increase of 1.4% per year.
Congestion on the roads will be the heaviest during the evening trips, predict INRIX and AAA. Travel times will begin to increase on Monday, November 19th. The worst congestion will take place in San Francisco, New York and Boston. The driving times of these travelers will almost quadruple.
The best days to travel will be Thanksgiving Day, Friday or Saturday. Sunday will be busy, as most holidaymakers will return home after the long weekend.
"Knowing when and where congestion will develop can help drivers avoid congestion-related traffic stress," says Trevor Reed, Transportation Analyst at INRIX. "Our advice to drivers is to avoid travel times in major cities or to plan alternative routes."
Here are the worst days and driving times in America's largest cities:
Houston, Monday, 2 pm to 4 pm
Boston, Tuesday, 4 pm to 6 pm
Seattle, Tuesday, 4 pm to 6 pm
Atlanta, Tuesday, 5 pm to 7 pm
Washington, DC, Tuesday, 5 pm to 7 pm
Detroit, Tuesday, 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
New York, Tuesday, 6 pm to 8 pm
San Francisco, Wednesday, 1 pm to 3 pm
Chicago, Wednesday at 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm
Los Angeles, Wednesday, 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm
As for airports, Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving are those where most people fly and pay higher fares, according to a data analysis of the last three years of AAA flight booking. Thanksgiving Day is the lightest travel day and has lower plane tickets.
[ad_2]
Source link
