Memorial Day travel to hit record high
Soon, it’ll be time to drop your coats and grab your swim trunks.
Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer, and according to AAA, a record number of Americans will be hitting the road, air or waterways between May 22 and 26, with 45.1 million people expect to travel at least 50 miles from home.
This year’s domestic travel forecast is an increase of 1.4 million people when compared to Memorial Day weekend 2024, and breaks the previous record of 44 million people set back in 2005 according to AAA spokesperson Jim Garrity.
“It's exciting to see another record amount of people heading out,” Garrity said. “When we look at these numbers, the vast majority of them are road trippers. You are even going to see an uptick at the airports.”
AAA projects 39.4 million people will travel by car over this weekend, which is an extra 1 million people when compared to last year.
This year, motorists will see lower gas prices at the pump when compared to last year when the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was at $3.49.
Garrity said crude oil prices, which is the main driver of gasoline prices, have been “stable” over the past few months, hovering at around $60 per barrel.
“With crude oil, there has been more oil thrown into the market, which has a direct effect at the pump,” Garrity said. “Crude oil makes up 50 to 60% of what you pay at the pump.”
As of Thursday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.18, according to AAA. The average cost in Pennsylvania was $3.31 and the average in Butler County stood at $3.45.
Some advice for those hitting the road, Garrity mentioned was to avoid speeding, as it obviously could result in a crash, but will also compromise fuel economy in vehicles, with most cars getting their best fuel economy around 50 mph, then dropping off as speed increases.
Garrity said the best general advice to beat the traffic over the weekend is to leave as early as possible. Leaving anytime past noon this weekend could possibly result in running into traffic from those also leaving for the weekend and everyday commuters.
Airports are expecting a busy weekend as well, with AAA predicting 3.61 million people will hit the skies over the next few days, a nearly 2% increase from last year.
Data from AAA indicates domestic flights are about 2% more expensive than last year, with the average cost of a round-trip ticket costing $850.
“If I were flying this weekend, I would get to the airport three hours prior to your flight,” Garrity said. “Normally, I would say two hours, but I would bump it up because you will have more people going through the airports than last year and with the REAL ID enforcement, that could potentially create some delays.”
Travel by other modes of transportation, such as trains, buses and cruises expected to see an 8.5% increase from last year.
The weekend forecast in Butler County could bring slightly cooler temperatures than normal, according to Liana Lupo, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, with spotty chances of sunshine.
“The general temperature trend is going to be a slow warming,” Lupo said. “Friday is going to be like Thursday. We are in the mid-50s and wet. You could see some light showers Friday.
“Then, we will have a drying trend over the weekend, and you will slowly see temperatures start to go up. It will be about 60 on Saturday, mid-60s on Sunday, and then Monday, it should get to low-70s.”
Lupo said the best chance for sunshine would be Saturday evening into Sunday, with Monday bringing the highest temperatures for the holiday weekend.
“Forecast is roughly same for the western Pennsylvania region,” Lupo said. “Other than some slight variations in temperature, I would say it will be roughly about the same.”
