AAA: Memorial Day weekend expected to be busy for travel

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) --The unofficial start to summer is just a week away and travel is expected to be booming.

AAA officials say since the pandemic, they've seen travel volume building each holiday and Memorial Day this year is no exception.

“Folks love to travel for these holidays. They want to take advantage of those nice long weekends,” said Nick Jarmusz, AAA Midwest Director of Public Affairs.

More than 44-million people will travel 59 miles or more for Memorial Day weekend, according to AAA.

“Looking specifically at our Memorial Day forecast, we're projecting the second highest level of travel since we began tracking the holiday weekend travel back in the year 2000,” said Jarmusz. More than three million people are expected to travel by air. The Transportation Security Administration also expected to see new record setting numbers this summer, showing a shift in the economy.

"This year the economy continues to be concerning to folks, but the underlying fundamentals are still that people feel comfortable spending the money that's necessary to travel,” said Jarmusz.

For many folks, the holiday travel money will go straight in their gas tanks.

"That may be people just heading up north to the Dells or northern Wisconsin or even maybe down in Chicago for a day or two....to take advantage of some extra time off...it may not even be an overnight trip...it may just be a day trip but they're going to be on the road traveling at least 50 miles,” said Jarmusz.