The Shadow
RICHMOND — More than 1.5 million Virginia travelers are making plans to kick off the holiday season with a trip of 50 miles or more away from home this Thanksgiving.
This will be the second-highest Thanksgiving travel volume since AAA began tracking in 2000, trailing only the record set in 2005.
Virginia drivers will want to fill up their tanks in the commonwealth before making the holiday road-trip, as Virginia is currently the ninth lowest in the country to buy gasoline.
Virginia travelers will join the more than 55 million projected travelers nationwide, who will travel for the holiday between Wednesday, Nov. 27, and Sunday, Dec. 1.
Overall, an additional 40,000 Virginians will travel compared with last year, a 2.8 percent increase. The vast majority of holiday travelers will drive to their destinations and, INRIX, a global transportation analytics company, expects Wednesday afternoon to be the worst travel period nationally, with trips taking as much at four times longer than normal in major metros.
“Strong consumer spending, increasing wages, and disposable income are all contributing to higher travel volumes in Virginia and across the country this year,” said Martha Mitchell Meade, manager of public and government affairs for AAA. “Virginia drivers will have a little more to be thankful for this year as the commonwealth is currently the ninth lowest in the country to fill up at the pump.”
