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Holiday Travel Down This Year
Fewer people are taking to the roads and the skies this holiday.

The AAA Chicago Motor Club projects that nearly 63.9 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the Christmas holiday travel period, a decrease of 1.4 million travelers from last year's total of 65.3 million. This is the first decline in Christmas holiday travelers since 2002.

Approximately 8.1 million expect to travel by airplane, an 8.5 percent decline from the 8.9 million travelers who flew last year. More than 3.33 million Americans plan to travel by train, bus or other mode of transportation. That is an increase of 0.7 percent from a year ago.

In Illinois , nearly 2.5 million people will be traveling for the holidays. The majority, 1.9 million, will be traveling by motor vehicle, with 303,000 people flying.

The decrease in travel is being blamed on the poor economy, says Nick Jarmusz, spokesman for the AAA Chicago Motor Club.

Those traveling by car will have some relief, as gasoline prices have dropped significantly over the past two months. The average cost of a gallon of unleaded gas in Illinois is $1.73, down from $3.03 at this time last year.

(Illinois Radio Network)
12 23 08 by Newsroom
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