AAA expects record travel for the year-end holidays.
According to AAA, about 356,000 Delawareans or just about 35% of the population are expected to travel at some point during the holidays. That’s up over 2.5% year to year.
Most will be hitting the highway according to AAA’s Jana Tidwell.
"As is always the case, the majority of travelers this year, 89% of Delawareans will be traveling by car. That's about 315,000 Delawareans taking to the roads for their holiday trip this year. That's up about 2% year over year," said Tidwell
For those hitting the roads, the busiest days are expected to be this weekend, which is the start of the designated holiday travel period, it runs through New Year’s Day.
Tidwell says early next week can also see lots of traffic.
"Which is no surprise as people leave work, you've got holiday travelers, you've got commuters, you have holiday shoppers as well out there on the roads,” said Tidwell. “So Monday and Tuesday afternoon will also be tricky throughout the region."
The day after Christmas is also expected to be busy as well as that weekend. If you’re willing to drive on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, light travel is expected on those days as well as New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
If you are hitting the roads, this past weekend’s snow is a reminder to give yourself plenty of time to travel, and to also make sure your vehicle is ready for winter travel just in case.
When you are driving, Tidwell notes that gas prices in First State are three cents lower than last year as of earlier this week.
As for other means of travel this holiday, just under 20,000 Delawareans are expected to fly which is up 3% from last year.
