AUSTIN, Texas — If you’re traveling for the holidays, you likely won’t be alone.
Millions of Americans are expected to travel between Dec. 23 and Jan. 3 – even more than the Thanksgiving holiday.
AAA forecasts 84.5 million Americans or 6.8 million Texans will use some form of transportation this holiday season, a 29% drop compared to last year.
Nationally, 81.1 million are expected to drive, 2.9 million could fly, and 480,000 might use buses, trains or take a cruise, according to the AAA forecast. In Texas, 6.6 million are forecasted to drive, 162,000 could take a plane, and 30,000 might use a bus or train or take a car.
The numbers could drop if coronavirus cases continue rising, a AAA Texas spokesperson said.
“As COVID-19 cases are likely to increase the closer we get to the year-end holiday period, it is expected that many Texans will choose not to travel,” said Kent Livesay, vice president and general manager of AAA Texas, in a statement. “Public health concerns, official guidance not to travel and an overall decline in consumer sentiment have encouraged most people to stay home for the holidays.”
The CDC is still urging Americans to stay home, warning that traveling could lead to getting or spreading COVID-19.
While the CDC made similar recommendations for Thanksgiving, millions of Americans ignored that warning and traveled anyway.
AAA forecasted 50.6 million Americans or 3.9 million Texans would travel for Thanksgiving between Nov. 25 and 29.
During the Thanksgiving holiday rush, Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at airports across the country screened the most flyers in months, with several of the days being amongst the busiest for air travel during the pandemic.
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