YORK COUNTY -- Thursday kicks off the one of the busiest travel days for Americans. Over one million people will hit the roads for Memorial Day weekend.
AAA predicts Memorial Day weekend will be one of the busiest ever on the roads. Nearly 43 million Americans will kick-off the warmer months with a get-a-way.
AAA says this will be the second-highest travel season on record since they started tracking holiday travel back in 2000.
Most of the Memorial Day travelers, 37.6 million to be exact, will get to their vacation destination by car. Another 3.25 million will travel by plane. the remaining 1.9 million people will travel by train, bus or cruise ship.
The worst times to travel, according to AAA, will be Thursday and Friday in the late afternoon as commuters leave work. Travel experts suggest you try and avoid the roads during the morning and evening commute or plan an alternate route if possible.
The good news is, gas prices won’t be keeping people home this Memorial Day.
According to GasBuddy’s 2019 summer travel survey, nearly 75% of Americans say they will take a road trip this summer. That is a 16% increase from last year.
GasBuddy reports that the national average for gas prices has fallen slightly, predicting the national average to be at $2.83 cents per gallon this weekend. That's 14 cents cheaper than this time last year.
Here in Pennsylvania the average is about $3.00 a gallon.
The Rutter’s on Richland Avenue in Spring Garden Township, York County is averaging $2.89. The Wawa on Lincoln Highway East in East Lampeter Township, Lancaster County is sitting at $2.95. In Harrisburg the Speedway on Market Street is averaging $2.84.
The surge in holiday travel this weekend, AAA says is American’s itching to get-a-way after the long winter.
Also keep in mind that we are excepting some severe wet weather Thursday. The rain could cause increased congestion.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission says they are monitoring the storms and will be delaying any construction projects until the travel weekend is over.