'One of the busiest Thanksgivings on record': AAA predicts heavy holiday traffic in Florida

Florida roads are expected to handle a near-record number of motorists during the Thanksgiving holiday period, from Nov. 22 to Nov. 26.

Meanwhile, air travel continues to inch closer to the level before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The AAA auto club estimated that 3.03 million Floridians will travel more than 50 miles for the holiday, mostly by auto. That would top the 2.94 million Floridians traveling for the 2022 holiday and 2.91 million in 2019.

“Travel demand has been strong all year and that trend will continue with one of the busiest Thanksgivings on record,” AAA Vice President of Travel Debbie Haas said in a prepared statement. “With more people taking to the roads, skies, rails and sea, travelers should expect congested roads and longer lines at transportation terminals.”

AAA projected 2.77 million Floridians will travel more than 50 miles by car, the third consecutive year of topping the 2.64 million recorded in 2019, before the pandemic hit.

The 2023 estimate for auto travel would be 10,000 shy of the record set over the 2005 Thanksgiving weekend, according to AAA.

INRIX, a provider of transportation data, anticipates the busiest travel day on the roads will be Nov. 22, with average travel times as high as 80 percent longer than normal in some metro areas.

AAA projected that 209,985 Floridians will fly during the holiday period, up from 198,100 in 2022, but still below the 218,215 air travelers in 2019. Also, people traveling by cruise ship, bus or train are projected to be up 9 percent from last year.

Nationally, 55.3 million Americans are forecast to travel for Thanksgiving, 2.3 percent more than in 2022, but below totals in 2019.

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