More SoCal Travelers Hitting The Road For Labor Day Holiday Weekend
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — More people, both locally and nationally, are making a quick getaway this Labor Day holiday weekend, and in greater numbers since 2008.
More than 2.48 million Southland residents are expected to take trips this weekend – a 1.6 percent increase over last year's holiday, the Automobile Club of Southern California said in a statement. Nearly 80 percent of local travelers, or 1.98 million, are expected to drive to their destinations – a 1.9 percent increase from last year.
Air travelers are expected to increase by less than 1 percent, to 314,000 locally, while the number going by bus, train, cruise ship or other means will hold steady at 189,000, the AAA said.
The top destinations for Southern California's Labor Day travelers are, in the following order: San Diego, San Francisco, Las Vegas, the Central Coast and the Grand Canyon, according to the Auto Club.
The Auto Club says the trend holds across the state, too. This weekend, 3.99 million travelers are expected to get away, compared to 3.93 million last year – also a 1.6 percent increase.
The all-time record for Southern California Labor Day holiday travel was set in 2008, when 3.2 million Southern Californians and 5.2 million statewide took holiday trips, according to the Auto Club.
Nationally, more than 34.7 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles away from home this weekend, a 1.3 percent increase from last year's 34.2 million travelers.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
