AAA projects record 107M holiday travelers

A record 107.3 million people will travel to celebrate the holidays, braving roads with up to three times the average congestion in big cities, according to an AAA forecast Thursday.

Holiday travel already set records this year for Memorial Day, Independence Day and Thanksgiving, according to AAA. The projected 3.1% increase in travel from Dec. 23 through Jan. 1 would represent the ninth consecutive year-end rise, according to AAA.

“We’ve seen the strong economy and growing consumer confidence fuel holiday travel all year long,” said Bill Sutherland, AAA’s senior vice president for travel and publishing.

Most travelers will jump in cars, according to AAA, which expects 97.4 million to hit the road, 6.4 million to fly somewhere, and trains, buses and cruise ships to carry 3.6 million.

The economy is growing, and gas prices are falling. The 3.3% annual growth rate of Gross Domestic Product in the third quarter was the biggest gain since the same period in 2014, according to the Commerce Department.

The national average price for a gallon of gas dropped 2 cents this week to $2.46, AAA said Monday. East Coast and Midwest states saw the largest price drops — as much as 6 cents. A few states with historic volatility saw hikes, including Indiana at 11 cents per gallon, Michigan at 8 cents and Ohio at 4 cents.

Drivers can expect pump prices to continue to drop as supply strengthens and fall gasoline demand weakens, according to AAA.

Nationwide, the worst time generally to drive will be Dec. 22 from 3 to 5 p.m., according to Waze, a navigation app that based its prediction on a review of driver insights from last year.