Triple A is predicting one of New England's busiest holiday travel weeks on record, with an increase of about 3 percent over last year in the number of people driving.AAA Northern New England spokesperson Pat Moody says the organization predicts that more than 4.78 million New Englanders will travel between Dec. 21 and New Year's Day this holiday season, more than four-and-a-half million of them in their cars.
Moody says much of the increase is because the economy is strong. "We've got unemployment at historic low levels, and noted improvements in both disposable income and household net worth," he says, "and those factors have been spurring travel throughout the year."
And more travel across the country means more calls to AAA, Moody says. "AAA's projecting that we will come to the aid of about 850,000 motorists during the holiday period, with most motorists calling for lockouts, jump starts and tire changes," he says.
And Moody says another factor is that with the Christmas holiday falling on a Wednesday this year, more people might opt to take the full week off and travel farther.
Originally published Dec. 24, 2019 at 1:58 p.m. ET.
