If you’re hitting the road for the holidays, expect plenty of company on the roads and in the airports. About 107 million Americans are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home in the next week, according to projections from AAA.
Nick Jarmusz with AAA Wisconsin says that’s up significantly from last year and is a new record for the Christmas through New Year’s travel period. “We’re about 3.5 percent over last year, which was the previous high,” he says. “We’re continuing to build off of the post-recession growth that we’ve seen as the economy continues to improve.”
Wisconsin is expected to see similar growth, with about two million residents projected to travel during the holidays.
While the vast majority of travelers will head to their destinations in a car, air travel is expected to also be up about four percent this year. Jarmusz says that’s due to lower fares to most of the major cities across the country.