AAA is projecting that 42.3 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more for Memorial Day weekend, a 7% increase over last year.
In Kansas, it’s estimated that 385,000 people will be traveling for the holiday, a jump of 8% over last year. Driving vacations will make up 88.5% of the travel, with nearly 341,000 people taking to the highways, up 5.4% from last year. More than 32,000 Kansans will fly to their destinations, an 8.3% jump from last year.
AAA says its anticipating the third busiest Memorial Day weekend since 2000, when the agency started tracking holiday travel.
As of Friday, the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.57. In Kansas, the average price is $3.27. That’s well below where prices were one year ago. In fact last Memorial Day, the national average was at $4.60, with Kansas averaging $4.11 one year ago.
Worst times for travel are expected to be Thursday and Friday between 3 and 6 p.m., noting the best time will likely be be before noon or 1 p.m. both days.
As for the return home, AAA says travelers should avoid the early afternoon on Memorial Day and Tuesday evening.
