AAA | ARLnow.com

Published August 30, 2012 at 10:15AM | Updated August 30, 2012 at 10:34AM

Despite quickly rising gas prices — jumping at least 40 cents in the past two months — AAA says this will be the busiest Labor Day weekend in terms of travel since 2008 and the start of the recession. It’s the third summer holiday travel period this year projected to set a post-recession record.

Some 799,900 Washington area residents are expected to travel more than 50 miles for Labor Day, up 3.5 percent from 2011. Of those travelers, 86.8 percent are expected to travel by car, 7.9 percent by air, and 5.3 percent by other means.

Opinion

Morning Poll: Thanksgiving Travel

By ARLnow.com

Published November 23, 2011 at 9:47AM

According to AAA and the Associated Press, Thanksgiving airfare and the cost of filling a tank of gas are both up 20 percent this year.

Nonetheless, 42.5 million people nationwide are expected to hit the roads, rails and airways for Thanksgiving — the highest number since the beginning of the recession. Here in the Washington region, more than 1 million people are expected to travel for the holiday, and the vast majority of them will be getting to their destination via highways, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

Opinion

Morning Poll: Thanksgiving Travel on the Rise

By ARLnow.com

Published November 22, 2010 at 8:21AM

That’s a 11 percent increase over least year and the highest number of area residents heading out for Thanksgiving since 2007.

“The Washington metro area has one of the strongest economies in the nation, and as evidence of this, we will likely see a double digit up-tick in the number of area residents traveling 50 miles or more from home for the holiday,” AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesperson John B. Townsend II said in a statement.

News

Summer Vacations Over, AAA Declares ‘Terrible Traffic Tuesday’

By ARLnow.com

Published September 7, 2010 at 5:37AM

The automobile association says that DC-area drivers should “brace themselves” for the one-two punch of kids going back to school and workers returning from summer vacations today. After a two-month respite from the worst of the area’s traffic, things should be back to gridlock-as-usual — a “dreadful day of reckoning” known as “Terrible Traffic Tuesday.”

AAA notes that about 1.5 million local commuters drive to work solo on any given workday. The group says that despite the increasing number of people working from home, Metro’s recent troubles and the new peak-of-the-peak fare may be putting more cars on the road.