Southern Californians Head Out For Holidays
More Southland residents will make holiday trips this year than last year, according to Automobile Club of Southern California projections announced this morning.
About 7.2 million Southland residents are expected to take a trip of 50 miles or more during the Christmas-New Year travel period, according to the Auto Club. That upward tick composes a 3 percent travel increase for the end-of- year holidays compared with 2009.
Click here for current traffic conditions
Similar to the Thanksgiving holiday, the majority of travelers are expected to drive to their destinations, the Auto Club reported.
That means an estimated 91 percent of Southern California travelers, or 6.6 million people, will travel by car this holiday, which is also a 3 percent increase from last year.
Fewer than 300,000 Southland travelers are projected to fly. That estimate is a 2.9 percent increase from 2009.
Fewer than 350,000 people plan a cruise, bus trip, train trip or other type of travel, which is a 1.8 percent increase over 2009.
Statewide, 11.6 million travelers are expected to take trips this holiday, with 10.6 million auto travelers, 478,000 airplane passengers, and 560,000 travelers going by other means.
Travelers will be paying some of the highest gas prices of the year during their getaways, with local fuel price averages near $3.30 a gallon, according to the Auto Club.
