Green Thanksgiving Travel

By: Anne Consroe

AAA is predicting a small decline in the number of Americans traveling this Thanksgiving. Approximately 41 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home this weekend, a decrease of 600,000 (1.4%) from last year. The first decline in Thanksgiving travel since 2002 is seen to be yet another product of the overall state of the economy.

Despite relatively low gasoline prices, there is an expected 1.2% decrease in automobile travel this weekend. Eighty-one percent of Thanksgiving travelers plan to drive to their destinations, 11% plan to fly (a 7.2% decrease from last year), and 8% will take a train, bus, or other mode of transportation (an increase of 5.8% from last year).

Fewer people are driving and flying this year; more are taking trains or buses. On the most congested travel day of the year in America, one would think more people would be enticed to travel by public transportation. In addition to easing troubled nerves during a high-stress holiday season in the midst of national economic turmoil, public transportation also benefits the environment by cutting down on fossil fuels.