AAA Mid-Atlantic projections indicate that more than 1 million New Jersey residents will travel 50 miles or more for Thanksgiving this year, the first time Garden State travel has increased in five years. The 2010 Thanksgiving holiday travel period is defined as Wednesday, November 24th to Sunday, November 28th.
For 2010, approximately 1,030,000 travelers will take to the roads, rails and skies this year, AAA Mid-Atlantic says.
Travel by transportation mode:
By Automobile:
968,585; or, 94% of all travelers
Up 11.8% compared to 2009.
By Air:
47,498; or, 5% of all travelers.
Up 3.3% compared to 2009.
By Other Mode:
14,376; or, 1% of all travelers.
Down .4% compared to 2009.
This year’s projected increase in holiday travel appears to be the result of modestly improved economic conditions since last year, including an increase in gross domestic product, real disposable personal income and household net worth combined with a decrease in consumer debt. While job growth has been minimal and unemployment remains high, the unemployment rate has remained stable, which is an improvement from 2008 and 2009 when job losses were mounting each quarter.
“While Americans remain cautious with household budgets and discretionary spending amidst high levels of unemployment, many are in a better financial position this Thanksgiving than a year ago,” said Tracy Noble, AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesperson. “This improvement, along with a strong desire to spend time with friends and family, is expected to propel a significant increase in Thanksgiving travel despite recent increases in fuel costs.”
Gas prices have risen 35 cents per gallon since autumn began and appear to be increasing daily. The current price for full-serve regular gasoline in New Jersey is $2.85, compared to last year’s price of $2.52. Today’s price is a 13% increase from last year’s holiday weekend price at the pump.
AAA has forecast an increase in travel for each of the travel holidays this year. In addition to the forecast, AAA travel agents are continuing to report strong increases in the number of travelers making advanced reservations. Hotel, car and vacation package reservations for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday are up more than 10 percent compared to last year.
Trips by automobile are the dominant mode of transportation for holiday travel in New Jersey with 94 percent of travelers reaching their destination by driving. This is an increase of 11.8% from last Thanksgiving when 866,276 New Jerseyans reached their destination by motor vehicle.
Nationally, Thanksgiving travel is forecast to increase 11.4% to 42.2 million folks. Last year, 37.9 million Americans traveled during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Thanksgiving travel in the Mid-Atlantic Region – comprised of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania – is forecast to be up 11.6% in 2010 compared to last year.
Pennsylvania’s travel is forecast by AAA to increase by 11.4% to 1.17 million.
New York State’s travel is forecast by AAA to increase by 11.7% to 2.58 million.
AAA’s projections are based on economic forecasting and research by IHS Global Insight. The Boston-based economic research and consulting firm teamed with AAA in 2009 to jointly analyze travel trends during the major holidays. AAA has been reporting on holiday travel trends for more than two decades. The complete AAA / IHS Global Insight 2010 Thanksgiving holiday forecast can be found at AAA.com/news.
AAA Mid-Atlantic, serves nearly four million members in parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and throughout Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia, and is on the Web at aaa.com/community.
Wildwood – So Liberals here on spout off, here's a REAL question for you.
Do you think it's appropriate for BLM to call for "Burning down the city" and "Black Vigilantes" because…
