Ohioans will again be traveling en mass this holiday season. Kara Hitchens with AAA says nearly 5 million Ohioans will be going somewhere.
“And then 4.47 [million] of those will be driving. We know that the vast majority of people will drive to their destination,” she says.
Hitchens says those trips are 50 miles or more away from home.
“The good news about that though is we’re looking at, like, a 10-day period, so from this Saturday, December 21 to January 1,” she says. “So that time period is pretty spread out.” She says that means more choices for when people leave, so there's a good chance travelers won't be stacked up on top of each other.
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More Ohioans are expected to fly, too.
“We’re looking at approximately 279,000 people flying for the holiday. Air travel is up 4.5 percent this year in Ohio.”
Hitchens says those percentages are similar to national trends. AAA is predicting, nationwide, more than 119 million people will be going more than 50 miles away from home. That’s 2.8% more than last year.
She says more people are expected to take other modes of transportation, like buses, trains, and cruise ships.
“That travel is up a little more than 10 percent. That’s the biggest upward turn at 186,000, however that’s not setting a record. All other modes of transportation are setting a record.”
Hitchens says the record for "other" was set in 2005.
