The Holidays: Travel or Not to Travel?
The holiday season brings a lot of happiness and joy to people around the world. It is a time to celebrate family, friends and to help others in need. It's also a time of high stress for those who are traveling during one of the busiest times of the year at airports, train stations, bus depots and other transportation hubs.
While AAA expects 87.7 million people to travel 50 or more miles during the holidays, a 3.8 percent increase over 2008, other agencies are reporting that US residents will be traveling less. So, which is it?
California Dreaming
For the past two years, Californians have been staying at home during the hectic travel time. However, this year, the tide has turned.
AAA is reporting that more Californians will be traveling over the Christmas/New Year's Day holidays — more than 11.3 million Golden State residents will travel 50 miles or more during the holidays. That's up more than 11 percent over last year.
AAA predicted that about about 9.9 million Californians will travel by car to their holiday destinations, up 12 percent from last year. AAA said more than 630,000 people will travel by air, and about 800,000 will use other modes of transportation, such as trains or boats.
The Auto Club of Southern California is reporting that about 87 percent of Southern California travelers will go by car to their holiday destinations, while almost 6 percent will go by air.
D.C. Taillights
AAA is reporting that in Washington D.C. this travel holiday season, there will be a a lot of car taillights on the road, as an estimated 2.5 million people will be heading out of the capitol.
USA Today Has A Different Story
USA Today is reporting a bad economy is contributing to the more than half of U.S. residents who wanted to travel during the holidays, but have significantly cut back their plans or canceled trips altogether (Gallup Poll).
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