BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – We’re officially less than a week away from Thanksgiving, and for many people, holiday travel begins Friday.
Travelers are hitting the roads and skies, and for people headed north, the current snow storm may impact their plans.
On Friday morning, Local 10 News reporter Liane Morejon was at the Florida Department of Transportation’s Regional Transportation Management Center in Broward County as officials there prepare for the busy travel week.
“The main source of data we have are our traffic cameras,” Alexandra Lopez, of FDOT, said. “We are staffed 24/7, 365 days a year, so on Thanksgiving, we will be here. They’ll be doing traffic monitoring, and so, their main purpose is to manage events, so a crash blocking a lane of traffic on I-95. They identify that crash, they send resources that we have available -- for example, Florida Highway Patrol -- we are able to communicate with them and get troopers out there.”
According to AAA, more than 2.9 million Floridians are expected to travel more than 50 miles this week, up 2% from last year.
An estimated 91% of Florida travelers are expected to do so by car.
Nationally, 54.6 million Americans are expected to travel more than 50 miles, 89% of them by car.
This is expected to be the busiest time for Thanksgiving travel since 2005.
“Travel is still roaring back from the pandemic,” said AAA Vice President of Travel Debbie Haas. “While gas prices and other inflationary pressures weigh on budgets, travel remains a top priority for Americans, particularly during the holidays.”
According to AAA, this could also be the most expensive Thanksgiving at the pump with gas prices at around $3.50 per gallon in the U.S.
Still, prices are going down a penny per day and could come close to last year’s gas price, which was around $3.35 per gallon.
AAA reports that Orlando is the number one travel destination for Thanksgiving in Florida based on hotel bookings and I-95 is one of the busiest corridors.