Low gas prices lead to record high in road-bound holiday travel

GRETNA, Neb. (WOWT) – AAA predicts more than 119 million people will travel more than 150 miles during the Christmas holiday season.

They expect air travel will set a new record with close to 8 million people hopping on a plane to get to grandmother’s house.

Despite the record number of passengers taking to the sky, most people will use the highways to get to their holiday destination.

More than 107 million travelers will drive home for the holiday. That’s up from last year’s 104 million travelers.

Drivers First Alert 6 talked to at the I-80 rest stop outside of Gretna said that they’re seeing light traffic on the roads this Christmas Eve.

“It’s been pretty smooth,” traveler Crystal Walker said. “I started out around eight or nine last night, I slept at a rest stop last night for two hours, it’s been pretty smooth. No traffic at all.”

“Its pretty calm, easy-going, weathers great, can’t complain,” Laura Novotny, who was traveling to Denver, said.

One of the things holiday travelers can’t complain about are gas prices. In many places along the highway, you can fill up for under $3 a gallon.

“I just filled up for $44, so it’s better than $3 or $4 a gallon so $2.70 wasn’t bad,” traveler Ryan Sheehy, who was traveling to Hastings, said.

“$2.51 now a gallon, that is cheap compared to what it was last year,” Novotny said.

“Where I’m from, gas is like $3 and something and going up, here it fluctuates from like $2 and something , $3 it depends on where you stop, so yeah, its been doing good,” Walker said. “I’m not going to even lie, I haven’t spent a hundred dollars in gas yet!”

Those cheaper gas prices are keeping some people out of the airports.

Many people don’t want to deal with the mess that comes with air travel. Walker was traveling from central Illinois to Denver. She told First Alert 6 that she prefers the highway instead of starting her trip on a runway.

“I kind of like driving, I’ve always been like that,” Walker said. “Like, my dad was an over the road truck driver, and I don’t like flying. I’m scared of the planes to be honest, like, I don’t trust nothing that up in the air, you know? I don’t got no control over it. I have control over a car, so I’m good.”

AAA reports that today and tomorrow are the best days to travel by car, but expect things to get crowded on the way home.

They expect heavy traffic on the highways the day after Christmas until the day before New Year’s Eve.

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