Millions of Texans Are Traveling This Weekend
Have you noticed there aren't as many people at the office today? If your office is anything like the radio station this afternoon, it's a ghost town, and I think I found where everyone went.
According to AAA Texas, millions of Texans are hitting the road and the air beginning today for the Independence Day weekend. Lucky.
Yesterday I wrote that nationally, 47.7 million Americans are traveling this weekend. That is a huge increase in travelers from this time last year. Of course this time last year we were all being told to stay home because of the pandemic and festivals, hotels, parades, and activities were cancelled nationwide. Not this year though. Travel is back. America is back traveling, and so are Texans.
AAA Texas says more than 3.7 million Texans are traveling Independence Day weekend with 3.3 million of those traveling by car, truck, and SUV. If you thought higher gas prices would stop people from hitting the road, that doesn't appear to be the case according to KXAN.
AAA Texas said the bulk of travelers, 3.3 million Texans, will be hitting the road. That number is up 41% from last year, and up 10% from 2019.
The road trip restart isn’t being slowed by higher gas prices. Prices in Travis County average $2.79 a gallon and a cent more statewide. That’s up 91 cents from this time last year, according to AAA.
“Higher gas prices really are not expected to deter travel for Fourth of July,” said AAA Texas Spokesperson Daniel Armbruster. “Some areas could see traffic volumes up to 50% above normal.”
It's not just the roads that are packed. There are 177% more Texans flying the friendly skies compared to a year ago.
Welcome to the Summer Travel Season!