Photo: pixabay.com / 0532-2008
Whatever you have to be thankful for this year, it’s probably not traffic jams. And yet, this is exactly what you should expect, the American Automobile Association (AAA) warns in its yearly holiday prediction released earlier this month.
Specifically speaking, Thanksgiving 2019 will see the second-highest travel volume since 2000, when the organization began tracking it, and the highest since 2005. This year, 55 million Americans will be hitting the road to travel 50 or more miles to their holiday destination, and 49.3 million of them will be traveling by car.
This represents a 1.6 million increase in the number of people traveling for the holiday, and a 2.9% boost since the previous year. Add these figures to the already impressive number of people commuting to work by car, and you can easily see why the AAA predicts waiting times in traffic to be as much as 4 times higher than on regular days.
“Millions of thankful Americans are starting the holiday season off right with a Thanksgiving getaway,” Paula Twidale, vice president, AAA Travel, says.
“Strong economic fundamentals are motivating Americans to venture out this holiday in near-record numbers. Consumer spending remains strong, thanks to increasing wages, disposable income and household wealth, and travel remains one of their top priorities for the holiday season.”
It’s great that Americans have more money to travel, but at this time of year, this is bad news for everyone else. Traffic will be slow throughout the entire week, with a peak for the biggest delays on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.
“With record levels of travelers, and persistent population growth in the country’s major metropolitan areas, drivers must prepare for major delays,” Trevor Reed, transportation analyst at INRIX, a global transportation analytics company working with the AAA, says.
“Although travel times will peak on Wednesday afternoon nationally, travelers should expect much heavier than normal congestion throughout the week.”
The biggest U.S. metropolitan areas will be affected by traffic delays in the afternoon, but hours vary from one city to the other. If you’re planning on driving to your Thanksgiving location, check with the AAA to see which these are, and plan ahead to avoid them.
With the increase in traffic, the organization also predicts higher rates for car rentals and hotel rooms reservations. Keep that in mind, too, and try and have a chill Thanksgiving.
This represents a 1.6 million increase in the number of people traveling for the holiday, and a 2.9% boost since the previous year. Add these figures to the already impressive number of people commuting to work by car, and you can easily see why the AAA predicts waiting times in traffic to be as much as 4 times higher than on regular days.
“Millions of thankful Americans are starting the holiday season off right with a Thanksgiving getaway,” Paula Twidale, vice president, AAA Travel, says.
“Strong economic fundamentals are motivating Americans to venture out this holiday in near-record numbers. Consumer spending remains strong, thanks to increasing wages, disposable income and household wealth, and travel remains one of their top priorities for the holiday season.”
It’s great that Americans have more money to travel, but at this time of year, this is bad news for everyone else. Traffic will be slow throughout the entire week, with a peak for the biggest delays on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.
“With record levels of travelers, and persistent population growth in the country’s major metropolitan areas, drivers must prepare for major delays,” Trevor Reed, transportation analyst at INRIX, a global transportation analytics company working with the AAA, says.
“Although travel times will peak on Wednesday afternoon nationally, travelers should expect much heavier than normal congestion throughout the week.”
The biggest U.S. metropolitan areas will be affected by traffic delays in the afternoon, but hours vary from one city to the other. If you’re planning on driving to your Thanksgiving location, check with the AAA to see which these are, and plan ahead to avoid them.
With the increase in traffic, the organization also predicts higher rates for car rentals and hotel rooms reservations. Keep that in mind, too, and try and have a chill Thanksgiving.
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