Holiday Travel Season Officially Underway
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- With Thanksgiving just hours away, Marylanders are already hitting the road for the holiday. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to travel this week, but with higher gas prices and airfare, it won't come cheap.
Kai Jackson has more on the Thanksgiving rush underway.
A tough economy isn't stopping people from traveling. In fact, it appears many are doubling down on tradition in spite of economics.
By rail, road and air, Americans are traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday.
"I think the heaviest traffic is actually gonna be between 3 and 7 p.m. I think it's going to be a very wide range of heavy traffic," said Kristy Breslin, WJZ traffic reporter.
Marylanders are among those packing up and heading out.
"Basically relaxing and just having a very relaxed family reunion," said Nana Joyner.
AAA Mid-Atlantic says even with a struggling economy, it does expect Marylanders to travel in noticeable numbers to spend time with family and friends for the Thanksgiving holiday. AAA says nearly 883,000 Marylanders will travel 50 miles or more round trip between Thursday and Sunday.
Travel does have a price. Gasbuddy.com reports gas prices are up nine cents a gallon over this time last year.
"This is probably the highest gas prices have ever been on Thanksgiving," said Ragina Averella, AAA.
And the Bureau of Transportation says airline tickets have gone from $364 to $370 in one year.
"Here at BWI Marshall, we do expect to see an increase in travelers. We've had really consistent growth here at the airport in the past several years," said Jonathan Dean, BWI Marshall Airport spokesperson.
The number of Marylanders traveling this year is almost a half percent increase over last year.
