Number of Texans Traveling for Thanksgiving is Up
By: David Gonzalez
Updated: November 20, 2012
More than 43 million Americans are expected to hit the road in the next couple of days for the big Thanksgiving weekend and, many Texomans are among them.
Doug Shupe, public affairs specialists for AAA Texas, says this year's trends are on track to surpass last year's numbers.
"Anytime there is a major holiday weekend, you can expect that the roads will be busy, the airports will be busy," Shupe says.
AAA Texas predicts nearly 3.3 million Texans will be traveling by car and just over 200,000 will be flying this holiday weekend.
"It also shows the resiliency of Texans to economize their budgets so they can travel to be with one another this Thanksgiving and for those who are driving to their destinations this year, they will be especially thankful for the recent trend in falling gas prices," Shupe says.
Gas prices have fallen 2.6 cents in the last week in Texas but not everyone is thankful.
Larry Torrence, a driver traveling to Fort Worth for the holiday, says gas prices remain too high.
"People think that gas prices are better but they're not really better than they were a couple of years ago," Torrence says.
Other drivers like Michael Ikeler agree.
Ikeler says even though gas has been going down, it would be too expense to travel on Thanksgiving.
"We got family all over the place but it's cheaper to stay here so we'll try and stay in Wichita and get the family here to Wichita," Ikeler says.
Ikeler says thanks to modern technology, he can always find the best deals.
"I have a smartphone so we check it out on the phone and then we head to the place that has the cheapest gas," Ikeler says.
Shupe wants to remind travelers making their way back home on Sunday to give themselves some extra time and to pack extra patience.
