Holiday travel crush in South Florida: Busy roads, crowded airports as Christmas nears
FORT LAUDERDALE -- For travelers hitting the road for the holidays, they will find plenty of company on the highway and area roads with over six million Floridians set to get behind the wheel, according to AAA.
"We're just heading to Orlando to have some fun together," said Sam Motta, whose family just flew in from Brazil, and they are hoping to get on the Florida Turnpike sooner, rather than later. "Haven't spent the holidays with family in three years now."
The crew had planned an early departure.
"We planned on leaving a lot earlier than we did so we could avoid traffic," Motta said. "We were going to leave at 8 or 9 but things happened and it took longer than we expected."
>>>>>According to the American Automobile Association:
- Drivers should avoid traveling during the mid-day with Saturday expected to be one of the busiest days on the road.
- AAA said it is best to drive before 10 a.m. and the worst times between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
- The group said the day after Christmas, travelers should leave before noon and avoid the roads between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Taking to the skies
At South Florida airports, the travel rush is on with lots of passengers moving through Miami International Airport.
There were long tines at security.
"A lot of people, a lot of moving around, a lot of luggage. It looks very busy compared to normal but not too bad," said Vanessa Lebron, who was traveling to the Dominican Republic with her family.
They were part of the record setting 2.8 million passengers flying in and out of the Miami airport, about 162,000 passengers a day.
Her advice to others: "Definitely to get here early. Don't rush get here early, take your time," she said.
At Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, some delays were reported Friday as lots of passengers moved through. They're expecting two million travelers this holiday period with about 118,000 a day.
"So far so good," said Kendra Dass. She and her family are heading to Chicago. They planned for crowds.
"We actually thought it would be a little more crowded, so we arrived pretty early. But it's been pretty good," Beheen Dass said.
FLL is alerting drivers, saying airport roadways are expected to be crowded during peak times. They also say garages could fill up by Saturday.
