By Lauren Wanko
Correspondent
Raindrops aren’t keeping many excited travelers from grandma’s this holiday. AAA Mid-Atlantic indicates almost 2.5 million New Jersey residents will travel 50 miles or more from home for Christmas and New Year’s. Roseland resident Andrew Celmer is braving the elements for his girlfriend. They’re visiting her parents in Boston.
“It’s terrible,” he said. “It’s terrible. You don’t want to travel like this.”
Still, lots of people are. The number of New Jersey residents traveling this year is up 2.4 percent over last year’s statistics. Nationwide 100.5 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more from home during the year-end holiday season, an increase of 1.4 percent over last year.
“This is the seventh consecutive year we have seen an increase for year end holiday travel and this is the highest number of travelers that we have on record, so it’s going to be busy,” Tracy Noble, spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said.
AAA’s data dates back to 2001. The agency defines the year-end holiday travel period as Dec. 23 to Jan. 3. They say 6.3 percent of all New Jersey travelers will fly, while 90 percent of all travelers, both in New Jersey and nationwide, will drive.
“I can’t get off the road fast enough,” Rusty Capps said.
This Virginia family’s been traveling to New York for the holidays for the past 30 years.
“It’s been awful,” he said. “It’s been raining the entire way. The traffic has been heavy and heavier.”
“It’s not that bad. There were a couple of back ups, but mostly it’s clear. Visibility is lousy, so you can’t go as fast as you would like,” Maryland resident Marc Sosin said.
“The weather kinda stinks, but to see my family it’s OK,” Briana Sposato, Pennsylvania resident, said.
When asked if he minds driving in the rain, Keith Watson from Washington D.C. says he has no choice. “You have to get to grandma’s and grandpa’s, that’s the name of the game,” he said.
With so many people on the roadways AAA expects to rescue nearly 900,000 motorist nationwide during the holiday travel period, with the primary reasons being tows, dead batteries, flat tires and lockouts.
Noble says she’s not surprised by these numbers. “A lot of times maintenance goes by the wayside especially in these busy holiday times,” she said. “People are rushing around, they’re shopping, they’re prepping meals, their cars are easily overlooked.
She says there are other factors, aside from family, that are encouraging people to hit the road.
“Since the economy has bounced back a little people are looking toward the joy of the season again and they’re looking to get out there,” Noble said. “Gas prices have come down over the last few months and these are the lowest prices for this season that we’ve seen since 2009.”
Celmer’s grateful he’s got a little more cash in his wallet.
“She’s pretty expensive, so it’s nice to have that extra pocket money,” he said.
However you plan to spend the holiday season, we wish you a happy one.