Illinois Thanksgiving Holiday Travelers May Set New Record

For many Illinoisans, this Thanksgiving holiday weekend will be over the river, through the woods, going through TSA checkpoints, paying tolls, and waiting in traffic to get to grandmother's house, as a record amount of people will be traveling one way or another.

About 15 years ago, my mother and mother-in-law decided they had stuffed their last bird, and concocted their last pumpkin pie. The responsibility of providing the holiday feast fell into the hands of my wife Amy, who has happily tended to it ever since. So, I consider myself fortunate in that my house is the destination, not the starting point. Our only concern about road conditions is whether or not people can make it to us, not the other way around.

However, nearly 50 million people in the U.S. plan on doing some traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, with 2.5 million of them here in Illinois. That's the highest number in almost nine years.

From AAA Chicago:

AAA projects that 48.7 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more from home this Thanksgiving, an increase of one million travelers compared with last year. This represents a 1.9 percent increase over 2015, and the most Thanksgiving travelers since 2007. The Thanksgiving holiday travel period is defined as Wednesday, Nov. 23, to Sunday, Nov. 27. In Illinois, 2.5 million people will be traveling for the holiday weekend, which is a 1.6 percent increase from 2015. Of those travelers, nearly 2.3 million will be driving (up 1.9 percent from 2015) and 182,000 will be flying to their destination (a 1.5 percent decrease from 2015). Gas prices across Illinois are on average $2.10, down from $2.21 in 2015. In Indiana, nearly 1.1 million people are expected to travel, which is a 2.1 percent increase from 2015. Of those, 980,000 are expected to travel by auto (2.3 percent increase) and about 79,000 by air (.1 percent increase). In Indiana, gas prices are on average $1.96 per gallon, down from $2.07 this time last year. The average price nationally for gas is $2.17.