Holiday travel expected to be up

More than 25,000 Delawareans will hit the highways before the end of the year, according to predictions from AAA.  

The car club forecasts a 3.4% increase in travel over last year at the same time.  AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Jim Lardear says it’s the fifth consecutive projected increase in holiday travel for the year.  “A modestly improved economic environment resulted in more Americans traveling overall in 2010 and the year-end holidays are no exception.”

 The increase in expected travelers comes despite the fact that drivers are paying about fifty cents more for gas this year than they were last year.  The average for a gallon of gas in Delaware today is about $3.02.  Compare that to the $2.55 average driver’s were paying during the holiday season of 2009.

The majority of Delaware travelers, 23,633, will go by car, with about three percent or 7,081 flying to their holiday destination.  

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Lardear says the increase in expected travel is a positive sign for a regional economy that has been very slowly recovering from the downturn.  Nationally, 92.3 million Americans will hit the roads or the air this year.  That’s an increase of 3.1% over last year.

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