July 4 weekend travel rush in full swing after busiest day
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The holiday weekend is in full swing, and whether you're hitting the road or taking to the sky, expect a lot of company.
AAA is expecting more than 50 million people to be traveling this July 4 weekend, setting a new record.
At the King of Prussia service plaza Friday, drivers were hitting some traffic.
AAA says more than 80% of local travelers are driving to their destination this year. And luckily, they're paying lower gas prices than they were at this time last year.
Travelers we spoke with said they are ready for the long holiday weekend ahead.
Cars filled up the lot here not just from Pennsylvania but from New York and New Jersey, all the way to New Hampshire and South Carolina.
"So far, so good. Knock on wood, wherever wood is. Hopefully we'll have a safe an uneventful travel day," Jana Ballard of Staten Island said.
She was headed to Bowling Green, Kentucky with her son, husband and dog, Millie. They'll be spending the holiday there with family.
"The game plan is we basically stop whenever we're feeling a little tired, we need a snack," Ballard said. "We don't really get too stressed out it."
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission expected 750,000 drivers to use the turnpike Friday and another 590,000 Saturday.
Joseph Zamora says traffic – so far – hasn't been bad, but he's prepared for things to change.
"That's why we came prepared. And we're just getting some snacks, and she's going to continue to play the tunes on the way there."
it was a slow trek to Ocean City Friday night, but once we made it, the shore town was ready for the holiday weekend.
Mostly quiet Saturday at PHL
Over at Philadelphia International Airport, Friday and Saturday were expected to be the busiest days for people traveling for the holiday.
Saturday, the lines at the TSA checkpoint were packed in the early morning, before hitting a lull around 7 a.m. But it was still a far cry from earlier in the week, when weather-related delays compounded across the airlines' networks.
Earlier this week – we chatted with airport spokesperson Heather Redfern, who estimates more than half a million people will travel to and from PHL between June 30 and Thursday, July 6.
"That's 5% higher than last year and only 11% down from 2019, so we're inching closer to our pre-pandemic levels," Redfern said.