Busy Memorial Day Travel Weekend Expected

Lots of people are getting ready to hit the road this weekend.

AAA is prediciting 37.2 million people will be traveling 50 miles or more from home this Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Ed Welsh, the General Manager of AAA Central New York, says that a nearly five percent increase over last year and the highest travel number since 2005.

He says a strong unemployment numbers and lower gas prices are behind the big increase. Welsh says gas prices are over a dollar a gallon cheaper than they were at this time last year.

Here are some other travel numbers from AAA

• More than 88 percent of travelers (33 million) will travel by automobile, an increase of 5.3 percent over last Memorial Day.
• Holiday air travel is expected to increase 2.5 percent to 2.6 million leisure travelers.
• Travel by other modes of transportation including cruises, trains and buses, is expected to decrease 3.6 percent this Memorial Day, to 1.64 million.
• Travelers will encounter higher average daily car rental and lodging costs this year, while airfares are down slightly compared to Memorial Day 2014.