More Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the upcoming Memorial Day holiday weekend, the highest travel volume in 10 years.
According to AAA, 37.2 million Americans will kick off the summer driving season, a 4.7 percent increase from the 35.5 million people who traveled last year during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, defined as Thursday, May 21 to Monday, May 25.
The 2015 Memorial Day forecast is expected to mark the highest travel volume for the holiday in 10 years, since 2005.
More than 88 percent or 33 million people will travel by automobile, an increase of 5.3 percent over last Memorial Day. And air travel is expected to increase 2.5 percent to 2.6 million leisure travelers.
Most drivers will likely pay the lowest Memorial Day gas prices in at least five years, according to AAA. Today’s national average price of gas is $2.66, $1.00 less than the average price on Memorial Day last year.
A number of factors have contributed to the record number of travelers during the Memorial Day holiday. These include, a stronger jobs market and low gas prices which have driven consumer optimism and boosted Americans’ disposable income.
