This week is the single busiest travel time of the year. The Triple-A travel and insurance agency says millions of Americans will hit the road, hop on trains or take to the skies to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends. As KPR's J. Schafer reports, holiday travel is up from last year and the highest it's been in more than a decade.
Travel Forecast Facts from AAA Kansas, by the numbers:
50.9 million – Number of Americans nationwide who will journey 50 miles or more away from home this Thanksgiving, a 3.3 percent increase over last year.
1.6 million – Number of additional people nationwide taking to the roads, skies, rails and waterways compared with last year.
2005 – The last year that had a higher Thanksgiving weekend travel volume than 2017.
3.95 million – Number of travelers nationwide who will fly to their Thanksgiving destination. With a 5 percent increase over last year, air travel is the mode of travel that will see the largest growth this year.
330,000 – Number of motorists nationwide that AAA expects to rescue with roadside assistance this Thanksgiving weekend, with the primary reasons being lockouts, flat tires and battery-related issues.
1,500 – Number of motorists that AAA Kansas Roadside Assistance expects to rescue during the Thanksgiving 2017 travel weekend.
$2.39 – Average Kansas price for a gallon of gas as of 11/20/17.
$1.90 – Thanksgiving 2016 gas price in Kansas.
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